~Epilogue~

Now

The sun was about to set. Apollo was pulling his chariot across the sky and about to plunge into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Once there he would never be doused; he and his love for Cassandra was eternal. The scent of pine and brine was strong upon the secluded beach. Anna sat with her back against a boulder, and Elsa was in her arms.

Late October. The evening was delicious. There was little sound beyond the breaking of the water, the occasional call of plover. Oregon had many miles of deserted beach; Anna wanted only her family to see Elsa die.

Elsa settled deeper into her embrace, pressing against the scabs and wounds on Anna's body that were slowly healing. They had their hands entwined on Elsa's stomach. Anna kissed the slight line of grey in her hair and then looked to her left.

Kristoff and Renee were sitting on a blanket right next to Anna and her love. Renee was similarly ensconsed in Kristoff's arms, and her eyes were already wet and shining. Anna swivelled her head, and on her other side were Haley and Rick. Haley still bore a black eye and various bruises from her disastrous encounter with Tim. Apparently everyone seemed to need this close and leggy embrace; Rick was holding Haley tight.

Everyone except the two girls. Brin and Casey were sitting as close to the chilly surf as they dared, and Casey was braiding Brin's hair. Anna had never seen Casey so pale, so sick, nor so alive. Pure joy streamed from her, and her eyes were sparkling. Brin's face was tight with pain.

"I still can't believe you're here," Elsa said. "All of you came, my whole family." She extended her hand, and Kristoff took it.

"There was no way I was going to miss the ending," Anna replied. She kissed the soft skin of Elsa's shoulder.

Casey and Brin flopped cautiously to the beach and made sand angels. Anna glanced over at Rick and her beloved Haley. Haley had broken the bad news to him as well as she could; it would not be enough to lose Brin once. It would be twice.

Haley had also been the one to awaken Rick every morning, both of them fully clothed. For now. Soon it wouldn't matter anymore.

Very soon.

He had a smile on his face as he looked at his only daughter, though his eyes glittered with unshed tears. "I guess I don't have to warn her about getting sand in her clothes," he said. Haley looked up at him, a universe of hope flowering in her eyes. He kissed her, soft and slow, and Anna could have wept for the beauty of it. Seeing her best friend so happy made all of this worthwhile.

Anna looked back at Kristoff and Renee. They were going to have a baby. They would never have met had Elsa not brushed against God in the marsh that New Year's Eve.

Little shifts, tiny course corrections, and they were all finally together, here and now.

Brin and Casey finished their sand angels. Anna looked at them again. They were still now, and holding hands upon the beach, looking up into the sky that was shifting from a cerulean blue to indigo. Casey's breath rattled in her chest and Brin looked a little scared.

Elsa sighed and let go of Kristoff's hand. Soft conversation that continued between all the lovers was caressed and softened by the lapping of the sea. Anna wasn't sure she could do this again. She remembered the last time she had been sitting like this with Elsa; a mirror image, their positions exchanged. It had only been a few weeks ago.

"Do you remember the first time you made lunch for me?" Elsa whispered. "You couldn't stand to see me eat another peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

The remembrance cracked Anna's fractured soul. Soon she would be whole, but she would be without Elsa, so how whole could she be?

"It was lamb and labneh that day, wasn't it?" Anna answered, her voice breaking.

Everyone was watching them; Haley smiled at the words.

"Yes, and you sent Haley to spy on me while you hid in the staff room."

The words were dappled sundrops, easing Anna's anguish. She loved Elsa, and it had proved enough to break the boundary of heaven. It could survive the boundary of time as well. When she finally came to the unseen world, Elsa would be waiting for her there.

"Thank you for being here," Elsa said, wrapping as much Anna around her as she could. "I was so afraid to do it on my own, but I thought it was the only way. You being here with me would be only fantasy; I didn't dare swap it for truth."

"Truth is here, my darling," Anna said, her throat clogged with tears, exquisite pain coursing through her heart and soul. Elsa shifted in her embrace, cradled next to Anna's heart. Anna placed Elsa's hand over her breast, over her heart. "Right here, do you feel it? You more than saved my life, Elsa. You saved my soul. Will you finally realize how beautiful you are?"

Anna lifted Elsa's hand and kissed her fingertips, and then kissed Elsa's forehead. Nuzzling there, cheek to cheek, Anna felt Elsa's fingers softly grasp her nicked ear. "I didn't believe in heaven until I met you," Anna said.

"And now?" Elsa asked. Her eyes were the blue of mountain gentians, the blue of the ocean, the blue of a springtime sky she would never see.

"When I look at you, I can see heaven," Anna answered, holding Elsa's face. "Because when I look at you, I am home."

A tear trickled down Elsa's cheek, and Anna kissed it away, then she kissed Elsa's lips, and then she held her, in a warm and eternal embrace.

"Casey?" Brin asked.

All eyes shot down the sandy beach, where Casey lay, barely breathing. The lower part of the sun was kissing the horizon of water, and a highway seemed to extend upon it, traversing all space and time. It was chariot to take their loved ones away, an angelic escort into the heavens.

The light was so brilliant that it wounded Anna's eyes.

"It's almost time," Haley said.

Anna couldn't reply. Anna lifted Elsa's head and caressed her cheek. Then she drew Elsa's lips to hers, and they were soft and warm and so blessedly familiar. Anna had already mapped them, memorized them, kissed them a million times and more. They were a tattoo over Anna's heart, a blessing for the rest of her life.

Elsa clutched at her, their mouths dipped and caressed, and each moment was the most beautiful moment of all, the moments that Anna had dreamed of for her whole life. They would have to be enough, to sustain her when Elsa was gone.

Death was no barrier to their love.

Not even this death, here on a beach in Oregon, this death among the plovers, and the whispering water, surrounded by family and blessed by love.

The highway to the sun shimmered.

"I love you more than I've ever loved anything," Anna whispered. "Wait for me up there, would you?"

Tears were streaming down her face. She couldn't help it.

"I'll wait for you forever," Elsa replied, her voice hoarse. "Thank you for bringing me back to life, Anna." She cried as she pulled Anna's lips to hers one more time, whispering, "I love you, I love you so much."

It happened slowly. Though her attention was on her love, Anna could hear Haley and Rick going down to the prone forms on the sand. Anna saw Haley cradling Casey in her arms; Rick would be shy of embracing his nearly sixteen year old girl, but she would burrow into his chest and stay there.

Elsa's breathing slowed, grew shallow. Anna held her, and kissed her, and waited. Her heart was breaking in her breast, how could she be whole again?

How did Elsa do this every single night? How was she so strong?

The fairy tale was over, there was no promise of dawn. Not for Elsa. This was the last time, and Anna couldn't help but weep and hold her love even tighter in her arms.

Sunlight coruscated on the waves. Elsa's face softened; with the last of her strength she closed her eyes.

She shone briefly the very last moment, a new star to grace the heavens with beauty and truth. And then her soul slipped away, hand in hand with Casey and Brin. Anna imagined the three of them; Casey flanked on each side by those who loved her, to escort her down that highway over the water, right into the incandescent goodness of the everlasting sun.

And then it was over. Elsa was dead.

Anna chose to stay there, resting against the gritty boulder, hearing nothing but the caress of wind on sand, wind through trees, wind under the wings of plover, dipping and wheeling in celebration. She leaned against the lush sunshine of Elsa's hair and smelled her shampoo.

There was no heartbeat, no steady rise and fall of breath. Elsa was gone.

Anna wept.

Darkness fell softly; no one felt compelled to move. No one spoke. They were all waiting.

Elsa was anchored to the front of her. Anna rested her head upon her shoulder and waited.

9 pm came and went.

Anna was alive. Rick was alive.

She wept again as she watched the stars emerge from behind their veils of cloud. The moon crashed through them like the prow of a ship. Starlight licked her skin for the first time in nine years.

Unchained. The unseen world had no hold on her.

...

A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers and followers. It has been my pleasure to bring this story to you. Please share with me your final thoughts and feelings. Because of your amazing support for this story, I have decided to rewrite it as an original work of fiction and submit it for publication. Wish me luck! Your comments have already proved very valuable, so thank you. I would love to hear about your favourite scenes, characters, and anything else you would like to share, especially anything I could make better. Any aspiring writers out there (especially English as a Second Language writers), please check out my blog: creativewritingforesl dot wordpress dot com.

Thanks again for sharing this journey with me.