Author's Note: Now we get into the meat of the fairy tale itself. I'm so looking forward to this! Please do note that the narrative skips parts of the fairy tale. The basic sense is that Tove tells Dani part of the story each night, so where the story skips a few days, that part of the fairy tale is skipped in the narrative as well. So if it feels like you're missing pieces of the story, you sort of are, although most of what's going to be skipped is essentially the movie Frozen itself, as should be obvious in the story. This also takes advantage of the flexibility of fairy tales; they can be altered, amended, edited and even rewritten outright, but they still tell a story that manages to convey the same basic theme (usually).
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen or any of the Disney characters held within. All of them are being used under Fair Use, and I have not and will not make any profit from this story.
An Elsanna Fairy Tale
Chapter 2: Turn
by Jo K.
I'm not in love, I'm not in love
I'm not in love, I'm not in love
I'm magnetized by you
-Garbage, "Magnetized"
—O—
...And so Princess Anna was left with a terrible choice: run to Kristoff, who represented her best hope at True Love's Kiss and saving her own life, or run to Elsa and try to stop Hans from killing her dear sister.
For Anna, it was never a choice at all.
Without hesitation, she looked away from Kristoff's approaching form and ran toward Elsa and Hans. Her legs were now completely numb, causing her to stumble awkwardly, but she somehow managed to keep from falling in her frantic charge toward her sister. She gritted her teeth against the spreading ache in her bones, the biting numbness moving up her face, as she watched the treacherous prince raise his sword for the killing blow as Elsa knelt before him, sobbing as she patiently offered herself up as a sacrifice to save Arendelle and Anna both.
As Hans' right arm began to sweep downward, Anna accepted her own death. She had always been willing to do anything to protect Elsa, and she would not, could not fail her now. As blackness oozed in around her vision, she pushed her arm upward, hand raised in an attempt to deflect the sword from striking Elsa.
The last thing Anna saw as the cold darkness claimed her was the look of shock on the formerly smug prince's face as his sword's blade met Anna's now-crystalline hand and shattered, its finely forged blade worthless in the face of utter, complete love.
True Love.
—O—
Dani wiped the sweat from her forehead as she settled the tray full of empty glasses on the back counter of the bar. She had been stuck in Arendelle for seven days, and she had honestly loved every minute.
She smiled as she heard Astrid coolly rebuff the advances of a group of university-age boys, the uproarious laughter in response to whatever she had told the most persistent of the group making Dani nearly laugh herself. She wasn't entirely sure if Astrid had any emotions other than annoyed and irritated, but the girl was ridiculously efficient as a server, handling nearly the entire pub by herself most of the time. And watching her shoot down the ongoing flirtations of men and women alike was practically a spectator sport by now, as far as Dani was concerned.
"Does she know it's the Festival of Love?" Dani quietly asked Tove as Astrid glided by them into the kitchen, the wooden door and its porthole window swinging closed behind the young server and the icy look on her face..
Tove laughed once, having instantly grasping Dani's meaning. "Oh, I assure you, she is being gentle with them!" Tove said, her own voice low as she replied. "You haven't seen her really mad yet. But... I'm pretty sure she's serious about someone."
"Really?" Dani answered, her eyebrows rising at the idea. "I hope she's nicer at home." She quickly covered her mouth after blurting that out, but when she met Tove's gaze, she saw mirth reflected back in the Arendellan woman's blue eyes.
"Astrid is actually quite sweet when she's not working," said Tove. "She's very quiet and keeps to herself fiercely, but every time she goes on break, she goes back in my office and uses the landline phone to call someone."
"And you don't listen in?!" Dani asked, a bit too loudly for Tove, who immediately began shushed her while trying not to laugh. "Come on, T," Dani teased. "This is one of your girls! You need to pry a little bit, make sure she's being treated right."
Rather than reply immediately, Tove just smiled as she looked into Dani's eyes. Finally she said softly, "I like it when you call me that," actually blushing slightly as she spoke.
"What? 'T'?"
Tove nodded. "It's not just the way you say it. It's... the feeling you put behind it."
Now it was Dani's turn to experience the flushing sensation surging through her cheeks. She shifted a bit uncomfortably in her chair, only for her eyes to settle on a poster of none other than Anna and Elsa, hanging on the wall behind the bar. This time they were facing each other, in the process of kissing, captured just as their lips began to touch. Elsa was wearing a glittering turquoise evening gown, while Anna had on a more traditional outfit of a long navy skirt, a light blue shirt and a pink jacket. Elsa's feet were in glassy slippers that would have looked perfectly in place on Cinderella's feet, and Anna's feet were encased in black leather boots, her right foot delicately lifted up into the air as she balanced on the tiptoes of her left foot to reach Elsa's lips with her own.
Dani swallowed, trying to compose her thoughts as she considered the Festival of Love, the story of Anna and Elsa that Tove had been telling her over the last week, her own growing affection and enjoyment of the upbeat Arendellan woman, and the uncanny ease with which she had adjusted to being stranded in a foreign country.
Finally she looked up. There she met Tove's crystal-blue eyes, searching, wary, eager but hesitant.
Optimistic... but afraid.
Dani wanted to be honest, despite how much the thought of it—and what it meant—terrified her inside. "I..." she began hesitantly, before her trepidation, strengthened by the bitterness and heartache of the last few months, won out. "I mean, i-it's easy," she stammered. "To call you that." She smiled, and that part was genuine. "I like how it sounds. And how much you enjoy it."
The bang of the kitchen door swinging open, followed by Astrid walking back into the main part of the pub, made both Dani and Tove jump slightly. Astrid's cool look that was directed at Dani didn't go unnoticed, although the American waited until the server was all the way across the pub handing out dishes of food before she dared to whisper to Tove, "I really don't think she likes me."
Only a soft giggle from behind the bar could be heard in reply.
—O—
The next month was a difficult one for Arendelle, after their Queen and Princess publicly declared their love for each other. The fact that the two sisters had also married themselves, making Anna Queen as well, further inflamed sensibilities. Until war came to Arendelle.
Two neighboring countries had decided to take advantage of the unrest and confusion in Arendelle, with a secret plan to split the resources of the country and its people once its rulers were deposed and, hopefully, executed.
However, those two countries failed to take into account several facts, of which the two most important were, as one would expect, Queen Elsa and Queen Anna themselves.
The two Queens personally took to the battlefields, together leading Arendelle's army against a massive force, superior in numbers, skill and experience. But the combination of Arendelle's harsh terrain and lethal weather, Elsa's intelligence and magical powers, Anna's charisma and surprising knowledge of military tactics (for she had spent much of those years sequestered away from her sister reading all she could on topics that interested her, and the thought of leading an army to free her sweet Elsa from unjust imprisonment was never far from Anna's mind), and the courage and spirit of Arendelle's people saw the tiny nation victorious after three painful weeks of fighting.
Arendelle had won the right to exist, and its Queens had led the country to victory during the most perilous time in their nation's history. After securing not only peace but also reparations for the harm inflicted on their citizens, the Sister-Queens of Arendelle were hailed as heroes. However, there was much more yet to do.
Over the next year, the two monarchs personally helped with the rebuilding of Arendelle. While Elsa's ice wasn't ideal for making homes, it proved to be incredibly effective as bridges, dams, city walls and other structures. It also was a ready source of fresh water, and as ice it remained ideal for preserving food during the warmer months of the year. Anna seemed tireless in her work helping with building houses and hunting, and Elsa was always present to help with planning, designing and coordinating people's efforts to achieve the best possible results. The two proved extremely capable at administering the country even while facilitating Arendelle's rebuilding, and before long nearly every town and village in Arendelle had witnessed their two Queens laboring beside their own residents, eating the same food (often due to Anna's skill with a bow and arrow), drinking the same water (not infrequently due to Elsa's magic), singing the same songs and getting the same blisters, cuts and scrapes as each of their subjects.
Also well-noted by the citizens of Arendelle was the deep, intense love between the two women. There was no mistaking the devotion, the adoration between the two, conveyed effortlessly in each look, each touch, each embrace and each kiss. Every Arendellan who had ever been in love could see the unmistakeable truth before their eyes—its queens, despite being born to the same parents, were well and truly in love with each other.
Full acceptance from the populace took time, but it came, and quicker than most expected. The young princesses of Arendelle had been the pride and joy of the entire country their whole lives, and their sudden disappearance from official events had only fueled the fires of interest and the fiercely protective natures of Arendelle's citizens. And for those last few stubborn souls who yet hesitated to sanction their marital relationship, there was the weighty matter of True Love, in the form of a miracle that stopped the Eternal Winter, defied death itself and was witnessed by thousands.
Despite their unorthodox relationship with each other, Elsa and Anna proved themselves to be not only compassionate Queens, but extremely capable ones as well. When their first daughter was born—
—O—
"Hold up."
Tove sighed as she turned to look at Dani, facing her as they sat on opposite ends of the couch, their legs tangled together in the middle and Dani's bare toes dangerously within tickling range. "Yes?" she said, perhaps slightly accentuating the note of irritation in her reply.
"You said first daughter."
Tove blinked as she held the American's gaze. "Yes, that's right. They had five daughters eventually."
"How did they get pregnant?"
Tove's expression remained stony. "Queen Elsa's magic," she huffed. "Have you not been listening, Dani?"
"Hey, you said she could control ice, snow and cold. You didn't say anything about her being able to knock people up."
"It wasn't only Anna who got pregnant. Elsa carried two of their daughters herself."
Dani shook her head energetically. "Wait wait wait!" She couldn't help the slight smirk that crossed her lips as she spoke. "So you're trying to tell me that two women could get each other pregnant, and that it was because of 'magic'?" she said sarcastically.
"I don't think I like your tone of voice."
"Come on, Tove! Of course there was some guy who was doing the deed of getting them pregnant! If they really loved each other as much as the story says, then maybe they weren't cheating on each other, but there still had to be some man involved for one of them to get pregnant!"
Tove's blue eyes narrowed ominously in the low light of the fire across from them. "There. Was. No. MAN."
Her growling voice made Dani shiver once, easily detectable from the close contact between their lower bodies beneath the blanket covering them. "Okay," Dani hissed. "Jesus."
"With Jesus most Americans tend to be more accepting of pregnancy without a man," Tove replied, her voice cool.
Dani opened her mouth to snap another retort, but when she saw the firelight reflecting wetly off unshed tears in Tove's eyes, she felt her heart sink in her chest. "Tove..." she began, reaching out for the woman's left hand only to have it yanked away, where Tove folded her arms across her chest. "Look, I'm sorry, T, okay?" she asked, voice softer. "I'm sorry."
When Tove's watering eyes slid back to look directly at Dani, the American felt her pulse skip briefly before resuming. "Y-you don't believe in them," Tove asked, her voice breaking. "Do you?"
"You believe in them," Dani said, offering a smile that she hoped looked more confident than she was really feeling. "And that's enough." When there was no reply from the brunette, only her continued hurt gaze, Dani threw her hands up into the air. "Jesus, Tove, I don't even believe in God!"
Silence weighed heavy on the cozy room, punctuated only by snaps and pops of the fire until a soft voice drifted through the late night darkness.
"I've seen them."
Dani looked back up from the back of the couch she had been studying. "What?"
Tove blinked before answering, "I said, I've seen them."
"Who?"
"Anna and Elsa."
"Well, we've been seeing them about a thousand times a day for the last week, T, you know?"
Tove shook her head. "I don't know why I'm even telling you this," she muttered before raising her voice back to conversational tones again. "I haven't told this to anyone, not even my parents before they died. But I saw them one night, when I was fourteen. I had just been dumped by my boyfriend, it was one week before the Festival of Love, and I was heartbroken. I had cried myself to sleep that night, wishing that I would just die in my sleep so I wouldn't have to wake up and live with the pain."
"Yeah, teenage years sucked," Dani said, nodding in acknowledgment. "Remember those days myself."
The briefest smile flashed across Tove's face, but her reaching up to wipe tears away removed the hint of a smile as well. "While I was asleep, I heard voices in my room. I opened my eyes, and Anna and Elsa were standing next to my window. I knew it was them because of their hair, and the way they held each other's hands. It had started snowing during the night, and I could see the snow falling through the window beside them. I asked them why love hurt so badly. They both smiled at me, then Anna told me that it's not love that hurts us; it's us who hurt each other. And Elsa told me that one day I would meet my True Love, and that while I might not recognize her at first, if I stayed true to love and true to myself, we'd find each other."
Dani scrutinized Tove's face, looking for a twitch, a smirk, any sign of teasing or mirth, but the brunette was entirely serious. "So they specifically told you that your True Love would be a woman?"
Tove smiled weakly. "They did."
"And so you, what, stopped dating boys and started dating girls?"
Tove nodded. "Found out I liked girls better anyway, which was a nice surprise."
"But you've never found your True Love yet." It was clearly a statement, not a question.
Tove shook her head. "No. I thought..." She shook her head again, then looked back up to Dani. "No," she finally said, the ring of finality in the single word. "Can we get back to the story, please?"
—O—
After the birth of Sanne, their first daughter, Anna and Elsa were overjoyed. Their happiness was perhaps surpassed by that of the people of Arendelle, who accepted the magical conception as simply more proof of the True Love between the two queens. Sanne looked almost identical to her mother Anna, but she manifested the same powers as her mother Elsa when she was very small. This quelled the last lingering doubts about Elsa being Sanne's "father," and when Anna became pregnant again the next year, there were no furtive whispers or seedy speculation about the baby's father, only a happy acceptance that the union between their two monarchs was truly blessed.
But despite all the happiness and the many great things Anna and Elsa would accomplish over the sixty years they reigned over Arendelle, there was a tragedy patiently waiting to happen.
It was not an act of maliciousness or spite, nor was it the action of anyone opposed to the two Queens of Arendelle or their family. Anna's and Elsa's daughters grew up healthy and happy, with three of them marrying princes and a princess from other countries and two remaining in Arendelle to help with governing the country and to prepare for the day when one of them would succeed their mothers. There was no scandal borne of lust or forbidden love, no act of unfaithfulness or adultery; in fact, Arendelle's monarchs remained steadfastly devoted and faithful to each other regardless of temptation.
No, the tragedy that awaited the country of Arendelle and its beloved royal family was at once more simple yet more unyielding.
For while Elsa possessed the powers of a god and the supernaturally long life that came with those powers, Anna did not.
—O—
As they watched the brilliant sheets of green and yellow shift and dance across the star-speckled night sky, Dani leaned more tightly into Tove. The campfire in front of them blew in the light mountain wind, and before long they would have to retire into the tent and the heater inside it, but for now, the two women huddled against each other, a large sleeping bag pulled around their legs and waist and a thick blanket draped over their upper bodies as protection against the biting cold of the winter night.
"This is so beautiful..." Dani whispered, enthralled by the magnificent luminous display writ large across the night sky. It was well past midnight, and as her eyes swept over the landscape around her, the snow-covered ground washed luminous green from the stunning display above them, she felt her heart racing with excitement.
She had already taken multiple pictures of the tableau before them as well as the aurora borealis above them, and now her backup N80 camera, older but still reliable, had been safely stored in its protective bag back inside their large tent. Now it was time for simple appreciation of the remarkable sight... as well as appreciation of her friend who had talked her into this trip.
"I still can't believe I'm doing this," Dani said, smiling as she shook her head. "Camping out on top of a huge mountain..."
"It's not that big a mountain," Tove interjected playfully.
"...In the middle of winter, in a country I had never heard of until just over a week ago..."
"With a strange woman who might or might not be crazy..."
Dani turned to see Tove looking at her warmly, her seemingly ever-present smile firmly in place. "Okay," Tove said softly, "it kind of is a big mountain. But we're not that far up."
"Still not sure how the pub's going to survive without you there tomorrow."
"I can afford to take a day off occasionally. Things run smoothly enough that everyone can handle me being gone for that amount of time."
"As long as Astrid doesn't kill anyone."
The two of them both laughed, which somehow devolved into nonsensical giggling, followed by sputtering and more laughing until the two women were both gasping for air, their sides hurting and throats burning from deeply breathing in lungfuls of the cold air. As they looked at each other, both faces slightly rosy from the chill as well as the giggle fit, Dani smiled at Tove, who beamed in return.
"Does this mountain have a name?" Dani finally asked, her voice startlingly husky, after several seconds of looking into Tove's light blue eyes.
Tove's smile turned into a full-blown grin, teeth showing in the fire's light. "Elsanna Mountain," she said.
"You're shitting me."
"No, I swear!" replied Tove, fighting back laughter. "One of their children or grandchildren named it after them hundreds of years ago!"
Dani kept staring at Tove, unsure if the woman was teasing her or telling the truth. Her indecision finally made Tove break her silence.
"It really is named after them," the Arendellan woman said softly, her smile still present and radiating its customary warmth despite the winter's chill. "You can check the maps or the internet when we get back to town." She waited a few seconds, then added, "This is where they were married, on top of this mountain." She pointed behind them further up the steep slope, where the jagged summit seemed to touch the northern lights themselves.
Dani turned to look, once again eying the rest of the mountain far above their campsite which, despite the time and effort it had taken to hike, was less than a quarter of the way up the mountain. "Who married them?" she asked, suddenly unsure of exactly when she had started to entertain the possibility that the story might actually be more than just a local myth.
Tove sighed, her breath frosting into a cloud in front of her lips. She shifted slightly then shivered suddenly; in response, Dani moved a bit closer, putting her left arm around Tove to try and share warmth a bit more effectively. "There are different stories about that part, so I suppose no one really knows," Tove finally said. "Some say the gods married them. Freya is the most popular choice in those stories, as she was the goddess of love at that time, although I have heard versions with Frigga, Odin, Balder, even Skadi performing the ceremony. Others say the trolls married them, or faeries, or the elves of Alfheim. Some stories say that no one married them, that they swore their vows and consecrated their union themselves, through their royal station and their True Love."
"Would that be legal?" asked Dani, still a bit shocked that she was asking a serious question about a freaking fairy tale.
Tove nodded. "Elsa was Queen, after all. The authority to legally marry is part of the ruling sovereign's powers."
Dani looked into the fire for several minutes, thinking quietly. Tove sat still, closing her eyes to relish the warmth and the closeness to her friend.
She was falling hard, and fast. And she knew it.
She didn't want it. She hadn't wanted it, hadn't even dared to dream of love again, not after the pain that word had brought to her. Not after the insults that cut like knives, the screamed threats and controlling behavior. Not after the slaps that became punches, or the burns placed where no one else could see them. Not after the threats of suicide, the forced isolation, the attempts at appeasement made increasingly in vain. Not after her own psyche and self-worth had been left in tatters, beaten and bloody and broken even more than her physical body.
It had taken time to heal. Years. And she had carefully avoided any potential relationships since then. She now knew that what she had been through had not been love, not in the slightest, but that was the word she and her ex-partner had used, first like foolish children and finally like desperate prisoners. That was the love she had intellectually respected and longingly worshiped, but she had carefully avoided ever being put in so vulnerable a situation again.
Until now. Until this year's Festival, when a flustered, frightened, lonely, lovely, sweet, sad, gentle, thoughtful blonde American had been blown into her pub and her life by a blizzard that might as well have been sent by Elsa and Anna themselves.
The light intake of breath beside her made Tove's eyes snap open. She saw Dani still watching the fire intently, her lips slightly parted as her throat gently worked beneath her visible skin.
"Do you think..." began Dani, shuddering slightly with a movement that was palpable to Tove through their bodily contact. "Do you think they were scared?"
"Terrified," Tove whispered immediately.
Dani turned to look at Tove, her pupils pinpoint from staring at the fire for so long. Her irises looked like molten gold in the ruddy firelight, only inches apart from Tove's own. Their lips and noses were so close that each could feel the warmth and faint moisture of the other's breath with every exhalation, and the proximity seemed to be under such tension that the thin layer of air between their faces practically vibrated.
Tove searched Dani's eyes, seeing many emotions at war in those depths; finally making her decision, she slowly closed her eyes, continuing to watch Dani's expression as she leaned forward those few millimeters until her lids shut out the rest of the world.
Their lips touched, softly, reverently. Where before they had shared warmth, this was heat. This was electricity and anxiety and tenderness and hope all at once. When Dani kissed back, Tove felt her heart shoot upward into her throat. She continued to press her lips against Dani's for several seconds before she parted her lips slightly to let her tongue tentatively flick against Dani's lips. When those lips parted and Dani's tongue hesitantly slid against Tove's, both women shuddered.
When she felt Dani pull back slightly, Tove didn't pursue her. She was too numb to move. Her eyes did manage to heavily open, revealing a look of surprise on Dani's face, although the American didn't appear to be disgusted or upset about their actions.
"Oh God," Dani mumbled, her look of mild shock giving way to a smile. "Jesus. That was... That was the best kiss I've ever had."
As she watched Dani lick her lips, Tove couldn't help but smile more. Dani's arm was still around her, and now Tove slid her own arms around the American's waist. But as emotions began to skip and dance across Dani's face, Tove felt the cold dread of fear begin to sink its teeth into her heart.
"Tove, you've been wonderful to me," Dani said. "And this has been probably the best—" She shook her head, then looked back up to meet Tove's now-worried gaze. "No, screw it, this has been the best date I've ever been on. No contest."
Tove closed her eyes, but not soon enough to catch the tears spilling over. "But..." she said, her voice breaking as she felt her heart pounding.
The feel on Dani's cool fingertips, bare against her left cheek, startled Tove enough to make her eyes blink open, revealing Dani's own eyes were red and brimming with tears as well. She smiled, but there was enough sadness in that smile to make Tove's insides sink like heavy stones.
"I'm not gay," Dani said gently, ignoring the tears now trickling down her cheeks.
Tove closed her eyes again as she felt despair sweep through her. It had been four years since she had thought she would never fall in love again, four years where she had found solace and happiness in the family pub and in herself. She had never dreamed that some foreigner would come blowing into her bar, carve out a place in her scorched heart and refuse to leave, all in just over a week's time.
It had been foolish of her to fall so quickly, so hard. Really, it had been foolish of her to fall in love at all. She didn't deserve it, after all. She only had ever picked the ones who caused her heartache and misery, the ones who treated her the way they all said she deserved, deep down inside. But she had hoped, with Dani arriving in conjunction with the festival, that maybe the words she had heard as a heartbroken teenager really would come true.
But that was a foolish hope.
She really should have known better.
"Tove."
Her name was spoken so softly, so tenderly, almost religiously, that she opened her eyes despite them burning. She saw Dani, her own face a wreck with tears, blotchy redness, quivering lower lip and chin, and the sight made Tove realize what a terrible position she had just thrust Dani into with that kiss. "I'm sorry," Tove whispered painfully.
"For what?"
The reply was just as gentle as Dani's inquiry, almost soothing with its softness. "For kissing you. For putting you in this situation. For this date—because that's exactly what I wanted it to be, you were right—and bringing you up here hoping that you would somehow feel the same way about me that I realize I feel about you. I'm a shitty person, for doing this to you when you're forced to stay with me becau—"
Dani pulled Tove to her chest, hugging her as the brunette stopped talked and instead began to cry into her winter coat. "Jesus, Tove. You're amazing. If I was gay or bi, I would be all over you right now, do you know that?"
Tove laughed wetly despite being heartsick with sorrow. "I don't know why."
"Because you're sweet, you're smart, you're beautiful, you're loving, you've got a home, you've got a business, and on and on! You are a fantastic woman, Tove, and you're going to make someone the best girlfriend ever."
"I don't think so," Tove said, her voice raspy. "I don't— I don't do so well with... relationships."
Dani pulled back and looked firmly into Tove's bloodshot eyes. "Bullshit," she said firmly.
"What?"
"I said, 'Bullshit.' Whatever you've been through in your relationships, Tove, you are a good, kind, loving person. I might have only known you eight days, but I know that. Qualities like that are embedded deep inside you, and they're not going to change that much. Just like abusers and cheaters are always going to be abusers and cheaters."
When Tove weakly tried to pull away, Dani held on tightly.
"Stop trying to pull away, silly."
"But I've ruined our night!" Tove moaned, beginning to melt down. She had wanted this to be a wonderful experience for Dani, no matter what happened, and now she had destroyed it.
"You haven't," Dani said carefully. "You haven't ruined anything, Tove."
Tove sniffled, resisting the urge to wipe her running nose on Dani's coat. "I have," she argued. "I kissed you, when you didn't want to be kissed, and now I've made everything all awk—"
Dani's eyes directly in front of Tove's face made her stop speaking abruptly. "Shhh," Dani said softly, smiling again. "Tove," she said carefully. "The only thing you have done today, and really every day since I got stranded here, is try to make me feel welcomed and cared for." Dani gently wiped the tears from Tove's cheeks with her bare fingers before resuming.
"You've become an incredible friend in a little over a week. You took me in when I needed a place to stay, you fed me when I was hungry, you've shown me around your absolutely beautiful home, you've brought me up here so I could take some amazing pictures of the Northern Lights and hopefully not get fired from my job..."
Dani waited until Tove finally looked back up, meeting her gaze hesitantly. "And you kissed me because you care for me, right?"
Tove was utterly still for several seconds until she jerkily nodded twice.
"How could be I upset about that, Tove?" she asked. "Especially during the Festival of Love?"
"But you... don't feel the same way."
Dani took a moment to compose her words carefully before she replied. "Tove, I don't think of women romantically or sexually. But I do care for you very much. You've already been a better friend to me than anyone I've ever known, and you've expected and asked for nothing in return for all the generosity and kindness you've shown me. I've seen a different world here in Arendelle, and it's been so crazy beautiful that I still catch myself wondering if it's all a dream." She gently reached up and fingered a lock of Tove's dark brown hair that had worked its way out from beneath her hood.
"I will freely admit that I thought about it," Dani admitted. "About trying it, with you. Just now, when you kissed me. You'd be good to me, I know." Tove nodded weakly, tears flowing again. "But you deserve someone who wants you the same way you want them, and even though I think you're an amazing friend, I can't give you that attraction and desire back.
"I want to. God, I want to, because you deserve it. But just like you have to be honest with me, I have to be honest with you. That's what the Festival requires, right? We have to respect each other and consider things carefully, and we have to be careful with each other's feelings."
Tove nodded. "Yes," she managed to whisper finally. "That's what it's about."
"I don't want to hurt you," Dani said, her eyes burning again as she starting crying once more. "And I know I have, because I can't give you back exactly what you feel for me. But I still want to be your friend... if you'll have me as that."
Tove stared at the American dumbly for several seconds as she processed how perfectly Dani had grasped the Festival of Love. There were many more kinds of love than True Love or romantic love, and they could be precious in their own right.
Finally Tove opened her mouth, after a long enough delay that Dani was growing terrified at Tove's potential reaction. "I am honored to have you as my friend," she managed to say, her voice ragged with emotion. "And I'm so glad I didn't lose that friendship with what—"
Dani's fierce hug cut off Tove's remaining self-recriminations. "Never," she whispered against Tove's cheek.
—O—
On the day that would forever change their lives, Elsa refused to leave Anna's side the entire day. Despite the coughing and vomiting, despite the blood that at times stained linens and clothes alike, Elsa stayed with Anna as her beloved wife's breathing grew weaker and more irregular. She held her mate of over sixty years, sang softly to her and cried into Anna's white locks as she once again wished she had grown old as Anna had done.
"I wish I didn't have to leave you," Anna said, her voice so weak that it brought tears to Elsa's eyes. "I love you, Elsa. I will always, always love you."
"I'll be lost without you," Elsa whispered through her frosty tears.
"But you have to carry on, Elsa," Anna said sadly. "I'll wait for you. No matter how long it takes, I'll be waiting for you."
Elsa gasped through her sobbing, unable to keep from smiling at Anna's spirit. "You always were the brave one," Elsa said, placing a kiss on Anna's feverish forehead.
"And you always were the strong one," Anna replied through her own tears staining her aged face. "Even though you never realized it."
"My life with you has been more wonderful than I ever could have dreamed," Elsa said, wanting to tightly squeeze Anna in an embrace but hesitant about hindering her already-weakened breathing.
"And it will be again," Anna replied quietly, smiling though her fever, her pain, her labored respiration, for she was in her beloved Elsa's arms. "No matter how long it takes."
It was well into the night when Elsa felt Anna release a final weak breath, never to take another. Despite knowing this day would come, the pain of loss struck Elsa with far, far more weight than she could have imagined. By the time one of the nurses came to check on her two Queens, the pillows behind Elsa and the linens beneath the two mates had frozen stiff from her unchecked tears.
It took hours to persuade Elsa to release Anna's still body from her desperate embrace.
The funeral was held the next day, with a month-long period of mourning declared by Queen Sanne, eldest daughter of Elsa and Anna, who had ascended to the throne several years earlier when Elsa and Anna abdicated to allow their first daughter to take the throne. Elsa stood resolutely as the longboat, decorated more intricately than any ever in the history of Arendelle, sailed into the distance, the funeral pyre fierce and brilliant enough to attract the attention of the gods themselves. Those present at the ceremony watched at the waters beneath the dock where Elsa stood grew glassy and opaque, finally freezing as the blazing boat became a mere speck on the horizon, beneath the majestic plume of smoke that stretched nearly to touch Bifrost itself.
Elsa left Arendelle immediately after the funeral. An icy winged horse bore her to the Ice Palace high atop the North Mountain, with the steed dissolving into a shower of flakes and frost as soon as Elsa's feet touched the snowy ground.
As she walked to the glittering crystal structure she and Anna had built into a home many years ago, Elsa fell to her knees, overcome with grief. There she sat upon the ground, gently supported by the snow, who longed to do something to comfort its mistress, but nothing could soothe the aching pain in Elsa's heart and soul.
As Elsa sat and cried, wracked with despair, the storm around her grew both in size and in strength. Many, many years ago, at the peak of her sorrow and self-loathing, Elsa had created a storm the people of Arendelle had called the Eternal Winter, a storm powerful enough to freeze the fjords, to encase the castle in snow and ice, to drown the country itself in a frigid coat of snow unlike anything ever seen in Arendelle's history. Only the True Love between Elsa and Anna proved mighty enough to break the curse of the relentless storm and save Arendelle from an icy death.
But at that time, Anna was still alive, and True Love vanquished Elsa's feelings of fear, hopelessness and despair.
This time, Elsa was alone.
—O—
As Dani woke in the warmth of their shared sleeping bag, she noted the small heater in the tent had weakened during the night, but she and Tove were indeed alive and not frozen corpses.
She noted that Tove had snuggled against her during the night, leaving the two of them spooning with Dani behind the smaller Arendellan woman. She smiled as she leaned forward and sniffed Tove's dark hair, enjoying the faint scent of sandalwood.
God, she was confused.
It had taken her over an hour to fall asleep last night. She couldn't get that image out of her head, of Elsa desperately hanging onto Anna's dead body, refusing to let her go. Then that image turned into Tove's crying face, after Dani had rejected her as gently as possible by explaining to Tove that she wasn't attracted to women.
Two weeks ago, that fact was inarguable. But today...
Well, Dani wasn't so sure any more.
She had never been attracted to women, not really. She could appreciate beauty and attractiveness without feeling the pull she felt toward men she liked; most women could, after all. But whether it was close proximity to Tove, the brunette's kind heart and uplifting personality, or just the way she had it all together, well, Dani could no longer deny her heart beginning to respond to something when she thought of Tove now.
It wasn't the adrenaline rush of love, or the deep, gut feeling of sexual attraction. It was emotional, yes, but in a more calm, serene way. It was warmth, it was comfort, it was happiness.
It had been months since she had been happy. Months. If she were truly honest with herself, she hadn't been happy with her ex for nearly the last year. Their relationship had already been strained at best; collapsing probably would have been a more honest assessment. But she was busy with work, gone most of the time, then fighting with him when they were both together for that one or two days a month, and while she had good intentions of trying to work on things, of trying to fix their dwindling connection, well...
You know what they say about good intentions.
Ending her relationship had been for the best, she had to admit it. What hadn't been for the best had been the prick and her traitorous "best friend" stealing her blind. They'd eventually be found, but she had little hope of ever getting her money back, and a legal battle to recoup what she had lost would almost certainly cost more than what she had saved to begin with.
So how much worse could being with a woman be?
She was still considering the question and its ramifications when sleepy movement from the woman in her arms seized her attention. She smiled at the thought of another day with her new friend in this place that seemed to be pulled straight from a storybook.
Maybe I should buy an Anna or Elsa wig today, Dani thought, and the idea of doing such a thing brought a smile to her face.
—O—
When the monstrous storm hit Arendelle, it was already nearly twice as powerful as the Eternal Winter of decades past, and it was continuing to grow in size and force. The homes unfortunate enough to be in its path received nearly a meter of snow in mere hours, and despite Arendelle being a hardy nation and thoroughly familiar with the cold and elements, it was quickly apparent this blizzard was unlike anything they could have prepared for.
Queen Sanne watched from the upper balcony of Arendelle Castle as the dark gray storm clouds streaked with sickly green billowed down the mountain, moving with such speed that she could watch the body of the storm envelop the land as it surged toward the castle and city surrounding it.
With stoic determination, she raised her arms and unleashed her own powers, commanding the storm to stop.
But the storm refused.
Trying a different approach, she attempted to divert the storm's course, to sweep it away from Arendelle toward the sea, to spend its fury and grief on the vast waves and spare Arendelle from its wrath.
And that was when her heart fell. For as she reached out around the storm, she could feel that the storm was already moving out to sea, just as it was moving toward Arendelle, and east toward Ruthenia, and spreading outward in all directions at once, far too powerful for even her magic to halt or redirect.
She wasn't as powerful as her mother had been. She knew that. Her mother's magic was fueled by her emotions. Sanne knew that too, just as she knew that Elsa's grief and fear and sorrow had never, ever been so profound as they were at this very moment, reeling from the loss of her heart's True Love.
There was no stopping this storm.
Grimly, Sanne raised her arms again, channeling more magic than ever before, using her own swelling fear to empower herself beyond her previous limits. As a dome of glittering crystal began to form around the nation of Arendelle, gently inserting itself beneath the storm's fury to encompass the houses closest to the North Mountain and offer them protection as well, Sanne ignored the pounding in her head and her heart as she weaved her desperate hope of protection for Arendelle, a shield to let the storm pass over and around the small country without decimating it.
She could only hope that somehow the rest of the world would fare better.
—O—
When Elsa felt the terror emanating from Sanne through their faint connection with the cold, she stopped crying long enough to stand and look toward Arendelle.
Seeing the enormous storm swallowing the entire country, not just the capital city, plunged even more fear into Elsa's heart. She had lost her Anna; she couldn't lose their daughter and her family too!
She reached out, marshaling her enormous power to dissipate the storm...
But nothing happened. Her fear and despair were too powerful, her heart too shattered to properly call upon her love for her lost Anna.
Elsa tried again, becoming more frustrated and fearful with each failed attempt. And as her fear grew, so did the storm. It ringed the entire North Mountain, spreading in all directions, and now it had covered Arendelle completely. Sanne was still alive, Elsa could feel that much, but their already tenuous connection had grown so faint as to be intangible.
Elsa cleared her head, focusing on Anna and the deep love they felt for each other. But no longer had Elsa pictured Anna's smiling face in her mind than the bitter shock of Anna's death struck her with the force of a blow to her chest... and the storm swelled even more, and faster than before.
—O—
In Asgard, several gods and goddesses watched from Heimdall's vantage point atop Bifrost.
"The storm continues to grow," Frigga said worriedly. "In hours it will cover most of Midgard."
"Her grief is immense," Freya said, sorrow in her voice. "Their love is one of the most powerful I have ever experienced, deep and rich in levels most people would never, could never know."
"Do tell," Frigga said teasingly, casting a sideways glance at the younger goddess that brought a knowing smile to Freya's face.
Freya laughed, but then the laughter was replaced by a look of concern once more. "With her mate's death, her love has been overwhelmed by grief and fear, and her powers are running amok."
"I say we kill her," said Tyr, his deep, gravely voice causing several of the gathered gods to turn in surprise.
"And how do we know that would stop this storm?!" Frigga said hotly. "Elsa will be one of us, is one of us. Can she even be killed?"
"All that lives can die, and must die," came a new voice, and all present turned to regard the newcomer.
Odin the All-father strode forward into the gathering of gods, his spear Gungnir held tightly in his hand. "Only the time of death remains uncertain, for all of us," he spoke gravely. "What news of this mortal sorceress and her threat to Midgard?"
"She isn't a sorceress," Freya said coolly, "and she isn't mortal. She's one of us, transitioning into godhood. She's lost her True Love, and her powers are out of control."
"All the more reason to end her threat," intoned Tyr. "I could do it easily, quickly, with no suffering on her part."
"Other than the dying, you mean," Freya shot back, hands on her hips in a display of feminine annoyance as loquacious on Asgard as on Midgard. "She's already heartbroken, Tyr! She's hurting right now!"
"Then why prolong her suffering?" replied the war god, his voice softening slightly. "She threatens the entire world below. Surely this is more than enough reason for us to intervene."
"Perhaps one of us should talk to her?" came a timid voice from the outskirts of the assemblage of deities.
Heads turned to fix their gazes upon Idun, one of the youngest gods, and one of the most tentative. She mostly stayed within her orchard, tending her mystical apples away from the scrutiny or drama that others tended to bring with them wherever they went, but all the talk of the events brewing on Midgard had finally overcome her natural reluctance to join such a crowd
Feeling her resolve wither in the combined gaze of so many deities, Idun hesitantly shrank back away from the assembly.
"It might offer a chance to resolve this without any death," said Balder, ever hopeful and ever noble. "Should that not be our primary goal?"
"Aye," said Odin One-Eye, and all present turned to look at him again. "Skadi shall go speak with this fledgling god."
A tired sigh came from the side of the crowd opposite that of Idun. A wizened woman, stooped in appearance and with hair as white as fresh-fallen snow, slowly made her way forward. "I think that would not be a good idea, Odin," Skadi said, her voice brittle with the weight of millenia behind her. She was the oldest of the gods who yet lived, and she had not left Asgard for centuries.
"My title is All-father," Odin said gravely, bristling at the familiarity of the old god's words. "Or Lord Odin."
Silence weighed heavily for several seconds before a cackle, followed by a wheeze and a few dry coughs resounded. "I have been a god since before your father was born, Odin," Skadi said, body still shaking weakly with amusement. "Titles and pretentiousness are no concern of mine."
"You will go speak with this would-be god," Odin said firmly, taking a step forward as his one remaining eye began to flash with power. "Your powers are similar to hers, so you would be best suited to resist her magic should she resist or refuse to comply with our demands that she end this magical blizzard that threatens one of the nine worlds."
"Again, I think—"
"I HAVE SPOKEN!" roared Odin One-Eye, and Asgard itself trembled with his fury.
Skadi held the All-Father's glaring gaze for several seconds before bowing her head, a sad smile upon her lips. "You have spoken," she said quietly, looking up to meet his angry countenance before dissolving into a flurry of snow.
—O—
Elsa lay sprawled out on the plateau before the Ice Palace, her glittering blue gown wrinkled and bunched beneath her. She was exhausted from trying to stop the billowing storm, but it stubbornly refused all her attempts to control it. Her failures had intensified her fear and guilt, and that had in turn strengthened the storm even more. Now it covered over a quarter of the world, although Elsa herself was not aware of that worrisome fact.
She continued to cry, her tears piercing the blanket of snow beneath her with each frozen drop, but she knew that she could never stop this storm. Her True Love was gone, her heartbreak and fear too powerful to overcome.
A snapping sound from beside her drew her attention, though, and as Elsa looked up, she saw an old crone with hair whiter than her own standing next to her.
The old woman smiled as her eyes danced over Elsa's face and figure; though sadness permeated that smile, there was a genuineness to it that Elsa could feel but not appreciate, not now. "You truly are remarkable, Elsa of Arendelle, wife of Anna," spoke the old woman, and her kindly tone reminded Elsa of how Anna used to speak to Sanne or Brigid when one of them ha—
The sight of Elsa being overcome with sobs once more nearly broke Skadi's heart. She felt her power fading now that she was here, and she knew her time was fleeting.
"Look at me, Elsa," she said, a hint of iron in her voice now.
Elsa looked up, through her ceaseless tears. "Who...who are you?" she asked.
"I am Skadi," said the old woman. "And my time is upon me."
"W-what do you mean?" asked Elsa, confused. All she could think about was Anna, who had spoken of her own impending death the days before her death, when the sickness had settled over her and refused to yield.
"Your storm, born of your fear, despair and anguish threatens all of Midgard, young Elsa," Skadi said calmly.
"I know!" Elsa replied, shaking her head. "I-I keep trying to stop it, to control it, but it refuses! It's—"
"Too powerful," finished the old goddess. "I know. And it grows more powerful still, now more than ever."
"I need Anna," Elsa said, trembling at the sound of the name she loved above all others. "I need Anna to stop the storm. I've tried to use my love for our children, for our grandchildren, but nothing else is—"
Elsa's words stuck in her throat as she felt the storm double, then triple in size, all at once. "What's going on?!" she asked Skadi, the brilliant blue irises of her eyes barely visible as her pupils dilated with terror. "Why is the storm growing so quickly?"
Skadi's smiled again, and the sadness in it was now painfully evident to Elsa. "Because my power is flowing to you, young goddess," she said calmly. "It speaks my end, and now nothing can stop it."
Skadi shuffled forward a few steps, close enough to lovingly pat the top of Elsa's head. "You see, young one, it is your destiny to take my place as goddess of the cold and winter. It is the way of all things, as you know all too well."
Elsa looked up at the elderly goddess, and now she could see as well as feel the currents of ice and magic that were visibly streaming from Skadi to her. "How can we stop this?!" Elsa cried.
"It cannot be stopped," Skadi said, still attempting to comfort Elsa as much as she could in these last few moments. "Odin the All-father, in his great wisdom, has sent me down here to talk to you, and talk to you I have. But us being this close to each other has greatly accelerated the transition of magic between us, increasing your power and bringing me my rest at last."
Now Elsa could feel the storm growing beyond the world, pressing and straining at boundaries she was not aware of only moments before. "What... What is happening to me?" she pleaded as she felt her monstrous creation, the greatest blizzard ever to exist, finally snap those hazy limits constraining it, roaring with triumph at its new-found might.
Skadi fell to her cracking, popping knees, with a fatigue that suggested she would never be able to rise from such a position. She reached out and took Elsa's hand, as a tingling began where their skin touched. "Goodbye, Elsa," she said, her features beginning to wither before Elsa's wide eyes. "I wish you only the best. May you see your Anna again soon."
Then she was gone, leaving Elsa even more terrified than before... and just as alone.
—O—
"The situation does not seem to have improved," Frigga said flatly.
Odin fumed, but he kept his silence as he glared at his wife. "TYR!" he barked, causing several of the gods (but not Frigga, who was well-used to her husband's temperament) to jump at the shout.
"Yes, All-father", said the god of war, the golden cap on his right forearm where his hand should have been a testament to the god's bravery and honor.
"How do you plan on killing her?" asked Odin. "She has taken Skadi's power! The storm she has unleashed upon us has covered all of Midgard, and now it spills into other worlds!" Already Heimdall could see great storm clouds raining gouts of snow and sleet across Alfheim and Svartlheim, with Vanaheim and Asgard both beginning to feel the bite of winter's cold in the air.
Tyr staunchly held Odin's gaze, quiet in his resolve. "Many years ago, Elsa created a sword for her wife Anna. It was a magical weapon, enchanted not only from Elsa's magical ice, but tempered with their love and devotion to each other as well. Such a weapon should be able to penetrate any defenses she may have and end her life."
Odin considered Tyr's words. Finally he nodded. "Very well," he said calmly. "Use her sister's weapon and put an end to this storm."
"Her wife's."
Odin turned to look at who had spoken, only to meet the glittering blue eyes of Freya, who matched the All-father's fierce gaze.
"Her wife's weapon. Anna was more than Elsa's sister. She was her lover, her spouse, her mate." She held the chief of the gods' glare without yielding. "She was the only person who truly knew the depth of Elsa's suffering and pain, because she shared it with her. She was the only one who fully understood her, the only one who could offer Elsa everything just as Elsa did her. Elsa has lost much more than merely a sister, and we should all respect that."
As the two gods continue to stare at each other, Freya smiled coldly. "As you might imagine, this is a bit of a soft spot of mine," she said, drawing several nervous laughs from around the gathering of gods. "In more ways than one."
Swirls of magic began to coalesce around the All-father and the goddess of love and magic as the two locked gazes, neither side backing away from the slow but palpable build-up of power. Finally proud Odin drew in a deep breath and looked away. "So be it," he said, turning back to Tyr. "Take her wife's weapon and end the young god's life, as quickly and painlessly as possible. Release her from her suffering, brave Tyr."
The dark-haired god nodded, then vanished.
—O—
When Tyr materialized in the bedroom Anna and Elsa had shared in their Ice Palace, he wasted no time looking around the room. As his eyes fell across the icy sword hanging proudly upon one wall, he smiled. He took no satisfaction in this task, but it had to be done, and better him than Thor, who would likely create an even bigger mess to clean up due to his haste and arrogance.
He strode across the room, eager to take the blade and strike before his presence could be registered by Elsa or any protections she might have in place in her home. That was his last thought as the fingers of his left hand curled around the ice blade's handle. The sword's immense stores of magic, already multiplied by the decades of love between Anna and Elsa and now enhanced by the transference of Skadi's powers to Elsa, blasted through Tyr's body, turning him into a roughly god-shaped statue of ice.
—O—
Elsa's new senses allowed her to see and feel what happened to the intruder who had dared to enter her and Anna's bedchambers, and as far as Elsa was concerned, he got what he deserved.
She would use her magic to remove the intruder's remains from the bedroom before Anna returned, so her wife wouldn't—
As the brief distraction caused by the intruder's presence gave way to the bitter truth of her situation, Elsa felt her grief and fear of her runaway magic wash over her once more. She buried her face into her hands as she began to weep again, her tears and sorrow and guilt adding more force to the storm now stretching over most of the nine worlds.
—O—
Author's Afterword: Before anyone mentions it, yes, the behavior of some of the characters in the fairy tale can be a bit extreme and one-sided. It is a fairy tale, after all, and some facets of the tale tend to be played up for dramatic purposes. Elsa's grief may seem extreme and excessive, but 1) she has lost her True Love, who also happened to be the only person who could help her control her runaway powers the first time, and 2) that's how people tend to act in stories such as this, to better illustrate the tale being told.
I make no apologies for Freya. Goddess gonna be who goddess gotta be.
This wasn't the easiest chapter to write, but it's necessary. Hang in there. One more chapter to go.
Jo
