"What's gotten into you, Weiss?" Ruby asked the second Kai led them into the pair of adjoining rooms they would be sharing. There was a pair of guards outside the thick wooden door, but Kai had reassured them it was standard security for visiting nobles. Something Ruby didn't feel the need to question.
"There's something wrong here, Ruby." Weiss said quietly as she pulled her friend deeper into the room and away from the door. "I can see it in Elsa's eyes. There's something wrong and it has nothing to do with anything we spoke about in that room."
"What do you mean, Weiss?" Ruby asked in exasperation. "She sounds like she has enough problems with the grimm and whoever these… Karlenes are."
"Karelians, Ruby. And by the sound of it it's some type of cult." Weiss quickly corrected. "But that's not what I mean. These… royals, I suppose I'd call them, are hiding something and I have no idea what it might be."
Ruby walked the length of the room while holding her chin before turning back to Weiss. "Well, nobody tells everyone everything."
"I know, Ruby. Trust me, I know." Weiss shook her memories from her head. Memories better left forgotten. "What I mean is it's something that's being purposely hid, not simply omitted. Did you notice the behaviour between those two today?"
"Actually…" Ruby thought back for a few moments. "I was interested as to what sort of metal Anna's sword was made out of. I've never seen or heard of anything like it."
"Her… Ruby!" Weiss flicked Ruby's forehead in frustration. "Who cares about her weapon? I'm talking about the behaviour between the royals."
"Ouch, Weiss." Ruby whined as she rubbed her forehead. "I wasn't paying close enough attention but they did seem to whisper a lot."
Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, then I'll tell you what I saw." She looked around the area of the room, checking once more that there weren't any servants hiding around the corners and pulled Ruby closer to keep her voice as quiet as possible. "There were a fair few glances toward both of us, and I had the feeling that they were unsure about whether or not to treat us as a threat. I can't say anything for sure, but these women seem to be… planning something, and… I don't know."
"Well, we are strangers who travel around killing grimm…" Ruby laughed a little as she thought over the day. "But you do make a point about them planning something. But then again, they seem to have a lot on their plates, so they're probably just wondering if we'll help or how to convince us."
"I thought of that too, but I'm not so sure." Weiss said slowly before shaking her head to clear it. "There were a lot of times when the two of them would share a moment together that one of them would come out with a blush too, normally after they whispered and glanced in our direction…"
"Hold on!" Ruby stepped away to get a better look at Weiss. Her cheeks were dusted a light pink and her eyes shifted restlessly as Ruby felt a laugh build in her stomach along with another feeling that was new, but decidedly calming. "You're… are you… jealous?"
"What? Of course not!" Weiss's too-quick response was evidence enough and Ruby started giggling uncontrollably as she pulled Weiss into a hug.
"Why on Remnant would you be jealous of them?" Ruby asked while obviously holding back her giggles.
Weiss remained silent as Ruby's giggles eventually subsided. She noticed how still Weiss had become and quickly started to worry. She pulled Weiss over to the bed and sat down, pulling Weiss into her lap without any regard to the silent protest Weiss presented as she tried to slip away.
"Nope. You need to talk, Weiss." Ruby spoke quietly with great care. "So much has happened in the last few days, and you need to share what you're feeling so I can help. I want to be there for you."
Weiss knew Ruby was right and sighed. As her thoughts continued to swirl. She didn't know where to start and felt her eyes grow damp as the memory of her grandfather came back unbidden. And Ruby was pulling her head into her as she shook with repressed tears. It had been a very long day and now everything she knew about her life wasn't just uncertain but completely thrown into disarray. But it all came down to one overall feeling.
"I don't want to be alone." Weiss rasped quietly. So quietly Ruby didn't register the sound at first. A moment later, the hand rubbing her back paused and she pushed Weiss away to look into her eyes. "Everyone keeps leaving and I can't deal with it anymore!"
"Weiss… I'm not leaving you." Ruby replied firmly as she leaned forward, surprising Weiss by placing her lips against Weiss's own. Ruby remained firm as she held Weiss, keeping their lips together until Weiss relaxed slightly. "I know you're scared, Weiss. I am too. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. There's so much we don't know about where we are, but we have to stick together. We have to be good teammates because there isn't anyone else here with us. I need you and I know you need me. But more importantly, I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else. So I'm not going anywhere. Period."
"R-Ruby… I…" Weiss struggled as she tried to speak through her still shuddering breaths. Ruby responded by pulling her once more to her chest and embracing her tightly with both arms.
"Weiss, I know why you're scared. Why you're sad. But I want you to know that I stand by what I said after we left the hunter station." Ruby spoke quietly. "You've always been different than anyone else to me. And I still don't know how. But I can tell you that this, right now, holding you in my arms, feels right."
"Ruby…" Weiss whispered once more and felt another wave of tears come to her eyes.
Ruby shushed her quietly and rocked her back and forth for what felt like hours. Weiss didn't once loosen her grip on her partner, and not once did Ruby loosen her grip on Weiss. Even when Ruby felt her own tears trickling down her face, she simply let them fall, keeping her partner in her grip. It was only hours later in the dark light of the morning that Weiss awoke to find herself still comfortably wrapped in Ruby's arms where they'd fallen back onto the bed. She closed her eyes and quickly resumed her sleep, afraid of waking up to find this had just been a dream.
"Spill it Elsa!" Anna commanded as she wrestled her sister down to her back. They had just finished dinner and Elsa had the audacity to try evading her questions.
"Anna! Get off me!" Elsa replied, unable to conceal a giggle as Anna started tickling her. "S-stop it!"
"Tell me what I want to know!" Anna spoke in a falsely deep tone as she continued to fend off Elsa's arms and tickle the queen. "Or the Queen'll get it!"
"F-fine!" Elsa gasped as Anna let her go and fell to the bed next to her, immediately wrapping her arms around her and cuddling up to her.
As Elsa caught her breath, Anna walked two fingers over her stomach until Elsa looked over into her sister's eyes.
"I win." Anna pronounced with a giggle. Elsa returned a questioning glare as Anna reached over and knocked on the bed.
It took Elsa a moment to understand what had happened when she realized she'd actually frozen the sheets solid. With a wave of her hand, the bed returned to it's usual plush state, bringing even more giggles from her sister.
"I swear, with normal people you just have to worry about them making the sheets wet when you tickle them!" Anna continued to giggle until a sharp pain on her bottom made her jump. "Whoa!"
"That's payback." Elsa said with a grin as Anna resettled herself next to her. A content moment of silence fell over them in the flickering light of the fireplace. It had been a long day for both of them and Anna felt herself almost start to doze off before she remembered she had been asking questions.
"So…" Anna prodded, forcing herself awake again and looking up at her sister who seemed content to let her fall asleep. "I think we both know who'll win this contest."
Elsa sighed as she gently shook her head and planted her lips on her sister's forehead. "Alright, I'll tell you what I was thinking about." Elsa watched as Anna perked up and stilled, giving her compete attention to her sister. Elsa took a moment to consider her thoughts before looking back into Anna's beautiful eyes. "I was thinking about… something I shouldn't."
"Ooh! Sounds good." Anna encouraged with a conspiratorial grin. "Was it something about… what happened at the Ice Palace?"
"Anna, if you already knew, why did you ask?" Elsa sighed as she pushed her sister away and sat up, moving over to the dressing curtain that hadn't been used since her coronation. She stepped behind it as she waved her arms, dissolving her gown and replacing it with a set of nightclothes identical to the ones she'd used the previous night. She waved her arm over the screen as Anna approached making another set of clothes for her, as Anna offered her the back of her corset.
"Well, I didn't know… not for sure, but I sort of took a guess?" Anna replied quietly as if she were afraid of getting in trouble. Elsa quickly loosened her dress and gave her a light push behind the screen as she returned to the bed with her back to her sister. "What was it you were thinking about?"
"Well, I was just thinking that… I think we should sleep in our own beds." Elsa said quietly, avoiding the pang that she felt in her chest as the words left her mouth.
"What? Why?" Anna shouted in surprise as she raced back out from behind the screen and quickly knelt next her sister. "What brought this on? I thought you liked cuddling last night!"
"I did, Anna. Really." Elsa avoided looking at the princess before her. She'd become well practiced at keeping the door closed over the fourteen years they spent apart, but without the wood between them Elsa feared she wouldn't be able to keep her resolution.
"Then why?" Anna cried her confusion, grabbing Elsa's hand and pulling Elsa's attention to her face where tears were already streaming down. "Please, Elsa…"
"Because Anna, I'm so scared." Elsa said, sinking off the bed to wrap her sister in a tight hug. "People are capable of terrifying things when you go against their ideals. If the news of our relationship got out with the Karelians so close to our borders, it would almost guarantee their next target is Arendelle. Rumours or facts don't matter to these people, Anna."
"Elsa, what does it matter? They're probably going to try to make a move on us anyhow." Anna pointed out. "I mean, you said yourself. The Karelians aren't going to like our gods, and try to send us to Hel for it. We may as well give them a valid reason to attack."
"Anna…" Elsa sighed as she ducked her temple down onto her sister's shoulder.
"Actually… what would happen if we announced it?" Anna asked suddenly, breaking Elsa's thoughts completely.
"Are you mad?" Elsa asked incredulously as Anna pushed her away and started to think.
"Not sure, but we have too many problems going on at the same time with the court coming up and the various religious groups that want to set up here, and now the grimm too. We need to deal with them all, but there's only a couple thousand in our army. Not enough to deal with the creatures on the mountain and the Karelians at the same time." Anna stated as she thought. "How strong do you think Karelia is?"
"Recent reports stated that their troops are spread thin, occupying so much territory so I'd guess at something around five to ten thousand strong for their invasion force, why?" Elsa asked, captivated by her sister as she thought seriously.
"This might sound stupid, but what if they fought the creatures for us?" Anna's response hovered in the air for a few seconds as Elsa thought about it.
"The only way they'd fight the creatures is if they thought we'd be up at the Ice Palace. Even then, we couldn't guarantee they would leave Arendelle alone." Elsa responded, carefully. "But maybe, there's another way to do this."
"Really? What do you think?" Anna asked quickly, excited for Elsa's idea.
"I'm not entirely sure yet. I'll need to talk with Rapunzel, she should be arriving tomorrow. And I'll need to make some changes to Marshmallow." Elsa replied with a grin stretching her lips as Anna's eyes lit up with the mention of the giant snowman who was guarding the Ice Palace.
"Ooh, this is going to be good." Anna celebrated before leaning in to her sister and taking her lips with a gentle kiss that had Elsa close her eyes. Even as Anna pulled away, Elsa's eyes remained shut, remembering the sensation that had just left.
Elsa opened her eyes to find herself alone and turned to find Anna staring at her from beneath the covers.
"I win." Anna smugly gloated as she winked at her sister. Elsa sighed and climbed under the covers, almost immediately being reeled in by Anna. Elsa didn't have the energy left to fight, and it seemed that Anna was determined to give the handmaidens who would come in to prepare the bath the next morning a shock. "Sleep well my Snow Queen."
"Not so fast Anna. We still haven't talked about you wanting to protect me." Elsa felt her sister's arms stiffen as the words left her mouth and she knew that Anna had hoped she'd forgotten. "I don't want you in danger, Anna. I've almost lost you twice in my life already. Both times because of me. I don't want to risk losing you a third time."
"I won't go anywhere, I promise." Anna replied as she soothingly nuzzled into Elsa's neck. "But if you're going to be in danger, don't believe for a second that I'll let you face it alone."
"Anna…" Elsa sighed as her heart clenched at the honest words. "I wasn't asking you to not be a part of this, but I don't want you to put yourself in danger for no reason."
"Els… I know I haven't always been the most level-headed, and I'm sometimes a bit rash, but I swear that I only want to make sure you don't push yourself too far." Anna stated as she pulled her sister even closer. "I need you, but you need me too. That's just one of the reasons why I know I'm in love with you."
Elsa felt the blush on her face as her entire body was warmed by her sister. It didn't matter that they both wore dresses made from ice as the cold was nothing to either of them. "I love you too Anna. And if you won't stay out of harms way, then I think I'm going to ask those huntresses to teach us something."
"That sounds like it could be fun." Anna nodded, her voice already sounding tired. "It couldn't hurt to ask in the morning. Have a nice dream, Elsa."
"You as well, Anna." Elsa sighed as her eyes drooped. She'd deal with the rest of these problems tomorrow, because for now all that mattered was that Anna was at her side, not separated by a closed door. There had been more than enough of those in her life already.
That night, despite all her worries, Elsa's dreams were filled with nothing but happy memories of their short vacation at her ice castle.