Chapter 20

A warm breeze rolled in from the sea, tousling Elsa's hair and stirring the hot sand around her. Not that she noticed. She was far too busy savoring the sweet sensation of having Aaron's lips thrust against hers, his sheltering arms wrapped around her as they lay on the sultry beach. Not another soul could be seen as the emerald waters lapped against the pristine coast but she didn't care, allowing her fingers to explore the hardened muscles of his bare chest. Even if there was she wouldn't have noticed for the only thing she could feel was his hand leisurely tracing along her spine, sending elated shivers of avidity rippling through her as it went.

Although it was the last thing she wanted to do Elsa eventually had to come up for air, sucking in a much needed breath as she pressed her forehead to his. Her eyes were closed as she relished what her other senses were telling her but when she opened them she saw that he was giving her a wickedly mischievous grin and she quickly found that she couldn't help returning it with one of her own. Even so, she still found doubts lingering at the back of her mind, doubts that led her to ask, "Are you sure we should be doing this? I mean, what if someone else happens by and…"

Her voice tapered off when Aaron let out that dulcet laugh of his, silencing her fears. "Don't worry, little dove," he crooned, his thumb stroking her cheek. "There's no one else here. We can do whatever we want." His eyes were filled with such confidence that she found her inhibitions melting away as she leaned into his touch, though when she did so his lips drifted beside her ear as his voice dropped to a gravely whisper. "Besides. You know you want this."

Instead of waiting for a response he kissed her once more, sweeping her ever closer to delicious ecstasy. As their lips mingled, though, Elsa found that she still possessed just enough of her judgment to reflect on his words. After all, he was right. They were alone and she had never wanted anything more. They could anything her heart desired. Anything.

With this in mind when she felt his hand caress her bare thigh, sending such a heady rush of anticipation rushing through her, it was a wonder that she didn't jump him right then and there. Even so, she was just barely able to restrain herself, holding perfectly still lest the slightest movement set her off. Meanwhile Aaron didn't bother with any such restraints, his hand now having made its way to the back of her leg. This only made it all the harder to remain in control of her eager body yet she remained still, anxiously awaiting to see what he intended to do with her. What she didn't expect was for him to suddenly flip her over onto her back.

Startled by the sudden movement, Elsa found herself giggling as she sprawled back against the burning sand, revealing in the warmth as it seeped into her skin. However, her laughter quickly subsided when she realized that Aaron was now lying above her, his body even hotter than the sand as it pressed down against hers. Every thought quickly fled from her mind, oddly enough leaving her in small a pool of tranquility at the heart of a growing storm of euphoria as she gazed up into his amber eyes. They were so soft and gentle, conveying a deep ardent love, and yet also contained a sharp edge of rapturous desire that beckoned to her like a siren's call. Like there was nothing he'd ever wanted more than to be with her right then. But before he could make the next move, she did.

Burrowing her fingers into his hair, she pulled his mouth back to hers as her legs instinctively twined around him, hugging him as close as their bodies would allow. All the while she could feel Aaron's excitement starting to get the better of him, his deft hands steadily growing ever more assertive, as though he craved her so badly it was driving him mad. The thought of that was so exciting, so enticing that it nearly dulled her senses, her ears deafened by the fervent beating of her own heart and her nose filled with his alluring scent as her sense of touch was overwhelmed by his.

That was why when she heard something odd she broke her lips away from Aaron's, glancing around with a bemused expression on her face. It almost sounded like someone had been calling out to her over the wind but when she looked around there was no one to be seen. Turning back at her lover, Elsa asked, "Did you hear something just then?"

Rather than answering right away, though, Aaron simply chuckled and shook his head. "Relax, love. It's just you and me out here." With that he leaned in and ran his lips along the length of her throat.

Instantly whatever concerns she had vanished as her eyes fluttered shut, her lips parting with a pleasurable moan. But despite her arousing distraction the voice would not be ignored, sounding through the breeze once more only this time she could make out what it was saying.

"Hey, wake up. Come on, sleepy head, rise and shine."

At first she didn't comprehend what it said, since she was too busy focusing on what Aaron was doing to her. Slowly fulfilling her deepest, richest desires. But then, all at once, realization clicked into place and a shot of dread ripped through her. No! It can't! It can't all just be a... As panic flooded through her mind Elsa suddenly realized that she couldn't feel any of it anymore. Not the beach, not Aaron, none of it, and when she opened her eyes she found herself lying in her bed back in Arendelle.

...dream.

Disappointment crushed in on her but as much as she wanted it not to be true Elsa found that she was lying nestled under her covers with her head resting on a pillow, clearly having just woken up from a deep sleep. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she closed her eyes again in an effort to recapture the invigorating vision she'd just been experiencing but it was already drifting away, leaving her with nothing but vexation. Why couldn't it have been real? Obviously it was too good to be true, but WHY?

However, it was while she was lying there trying to relive the dream that she suddenly realized that she'd just seen the person who'd woken her. Sure enough, when her eyes snapped open there was Anna, crouching beside her bed with her face only a few inches away from Elsa's. Rubbing her eyes and questioning whether or not this was another dream, she mumbled, "Anna?"

A large smile instantly broke across her sister's face as she stood up, bouncing back a step. "Finally!" she exclaimed with a clap, causing Elsa to wince at the sound. "Good morning, Elsa!"

Though Anna was clearly feeling very enthusiastic she shared none of it, still feeling extremely cheated and annoyed. Still, she did her best not to show any of this as she squinted at the doors to her balcony and saw that while the sun had definitely risen it was still early in the morning. "What time is it?"

"I don't know, around seven I think."

Turning her attention back to Anna, Elsa now noticed that despite the time her sister was fully dressed, wearing a flowing emerald dress with a matching velvety corset. She even had a crown of flowers adorning her head, made up of blue irises that complimented her fiery hair perfectly. Not that any of this helped the befuddled Elsa. "Is something wrong?"

"No no, nothing like that," she replied, shaking her head. "But you do have to get up."

By this point she'd realized that she was far too groggy for this to be a dream and since there didn't appear to be an emergency it was all she could do not give an irritated huff and scold Anna for ruining such a perfect dream. Instead she raised her head slightly to make sure that there wasn't anyone other than her sister in the room. "Where's your husband?" asked Elsa after giving the room a cursory scan.

"Kristoff?" Anna shrugged. "I'm letting him sleep in a bit."

Unfortunately that was the last thing Elsa wanted to hear and this time she didn't refrain from glaring at Anna, growling, "Then why can't your sister sleep in?" With that she rolled over and tried to fall back to sleep.

Not that Anna was going to let that happen. "'Why'?" Though her eyes were closed Elsa could still hear her trot around to the other side of the bed so when she opened an eye Anna was in front of her again. "Come on Elsa, don't you know what today is?"

Grabbing her spare pillow from the other side of the of king sized bed, she threw it over her head in an effort to drown Anna out, muttering, "The day I become an only child?"

Clearly not knowing that she'd just interrupted the greatest dream Elsa had ever had,Anna lifted the pillow to reveal Elsa's scowling face. "Nope, that's not it," she replied chipperly, tossing the pillow aside.

"Then I give up."

Despite her irritated drawl it only served to excite Anna further as she exclaimed, "It's the start of the Blooming Festival, silly!"

Quickly giving up on trying to go back to sleep while her little sister was there, Elsa rolled onto her back with a sigh and glared at the canopy above her bed. "Anna, that doesn't actually start for another couple of hours."

"So? Doesn't mean we can't begin celebrating a little early. Now come on, get up get up get up!"

At first she considered driving Anna from the room before freezing the doors shut behind her just to get another precious hour of sleep. But then she would probably stand there banging on the door for a while so Elsa instead decided to go for a more direct approach. "Go away, Anna."

"Uh oh, sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," she teased, sitting on the edge of the bed and flashing her a grin. "What's the matter, grumpy? Didn't sleep well?"

Drawing in a deep breath, Elsa draped an arm across her eyes in an effort to block out the light while trying to calm herself. After all it wasn't like Anna disrupted her dream on purpose, though she should still probably know what she did so she said, "No, you just interrupted the most wonderful dream."

"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that. What was your dream about?"

For a while she didn't answer, simply reflecting on the beach where she and the man she adored were about to make such sweet love. As she did so, though, she quickly found that there was only one word she could use to describe it.

"Paradise."

She uttered the word with such longing that Anna didn't have anything to reply to it, or maybe she did and Elsa simply didn't hear her, so she lay there in silence for minute, making one final attempt to relive the dream. But in the end there was no use in crying over spilled milk and she knew that the tighter she held onto a dream the farther away it would slip. With that in mind she sat up with another sigh, swinging her legs off the bed and rising to her feet.

For a moment she wavered, her body still not entirely awake, before turning and slowly making her way across the room to a desk and chair situated along the far wall. Elsa then sank into the chair and turned to regard herself in a mirror fixed to the wall in front of the desk. Her hair was a tangled mess and her eyes bleary but that was to be expected after a night's sleep. No, what caught her attention was the faint sheen of sweat covering her face, further illustrating just how torrid her dream had been.

Maybe it's just as well Anna woke me, she thought with a smirk as she reached into a washbasin sitting on the right side of the desk. Any longer and I might have melted. Pulling out a damp washcloth, she ringed it out before wiping away the sweat, savoring the touch of the cool moisture as she cleaned her face. As she did so, though, she remembered that she wasn't alone and glanced back into the mirror to see that Anna had risen from the bed and silently crossed the room to stand behind her. And though she still wanted to be upset with her sister when their eyes met in the mirror she still found herself smiling.

Returning the smile, Anna asked, "Feeling better?"

"A little," she replied with a nod, dropping the washcloth back where it came from. "Still wish you hadn't woken me, though."

"Sorry, sorry. But how was I supposed to know you were having a good dream?"

"You could have just played it safe and let me sleep."

"True," said Anna with a thoughtful nod. But then her lips curled up in a smirk. "Or I could just wake you up every morning."

Laughing, Elsa shook her head before dipping her fingers in the washbasin. "You can be such a snot!" she exclaimed, flicking some water at her sister.

Letting out a gleeful shriek, she jumped back while raising her hands in defeat. "Stop, you're going to get my dress wet!"

"Sorry, you're right," Elsa admitted, though she was still grinning. Waving her hand, she summoned one of her icy brushes to do something about her hair but paused to give Anna another glance. "But you did ask for it."

"Sure I did." Giggling to herself, Anna stepped up behind her again and looked like she was going to say something else only to pause when she saw the brush in Elsa's hand. Her eyes lit up and she reached out for it, asking, "Can I do that? After all, you did my hair so it only seems fair that I return the favor."

Pausing, she glanced at the brush before handing it over with a shrug. "Sure. Just make sure you don't mess it up."

After rolling her eyes Anna shook her head as she set about combing out her older sister's hair. "Naw, I'm going to make you look like a tramp," she snickered as she smoothed out the mess of platinum locks.

They shared a brief laugh before falling silent, with Elsa content to simply sit and watch her sister work. She proved to be quite adept with a brush, working through the knots and snags with ease as she managed to work Elsa's hair into a manageable flow. As time passed, though, she found herself admiring the woven bouquet decorating Anna's temples and mentioned as such, saying, "I like your flower crown."

"Thank you," Anna replied, flashing her a smile before returning to her work. "I just thought it might be nice if I wore something festive for the Blooming Festival. And if you like I brought you one as well."

Following her sister's gesture, Elsa glanced over to see another crown resting on a small table by the door, only this one was made out of violets rather than irises. "It's beautiful," she said as she admired the indigo petals. "Did you make them yourself?"

"Yeah. Kresta and I were in the mood so we spent part of the afternoon making them. You should see hers, it's made from ruby flowers rather than blue or purple."

"It sounds lovely," Elsa replied. She was going to remark that she was looking forward to seeing but paused when she looked back at the mirror and saw that Anna now had a somewhat troubled look on her face. "Is something wrong, Anna?"

Shrugging and trying to look benign, Anna replied, "I was just wondering if you were okay yesterday? I know we talked briefly but you seemed kind of dismayed and went to bed early."

"I was just tired is all. It was a long day while having to constantly juggle so many things, you know? Oh, and Aaron and I had a minor spat so that didn't help. Not to mention-"

"You and Aaron got into a fight?!"

Elsa had zoned out slightly as she talked about the previous day but Anna's exclamation brought her back to the moment to see her sister now looked genuinely worried. Adopting a counseling look, she shook her head. "It was just a little quarrel. No, not even that. Just a minor disagreement. Nothing to worry about."

"But you two never fight," Anna replied, her expression not improving.

"Again, it wasn't a fight. Like I said, I was only a little tired and testy."

"Just so long as neither of you said anything you regret."

"Relax, Anna. I appreciate your concern but Aaron and I are fine. Honestly." As nice as it was for her sister to be looking out for her best interest Elsa still found it rather odd that she was reassuring her rather than the other way around. But then Anna had always been like that, putting others ahead of herself.

"You're sure?"

A smile bloomed on Elsa's face as she nodded, answering, "We love each other. What more could we need?"

That seemed to satisfy Anna and she went back to brushing so she didn't see Elsa's smile falter when she looked away. Yes, they loved each other and Elsa knew that Aaron would do anything he could to make her happy… but even she couldn't deny the uncertainty in their future. She just wasn't ready to reveal something that had been hidden for so long and Aaron still had his reservations about them getting married one day so where did that leave them? Yes, we have love and I will always be greatful for that but will that always be enough...

"So tell me about this dream."

Blinking with surprise, Elsa lurched back into reality to see that Anna was watching her closely again, only this time with curiosity rather than worry. Still, she wasn't sure how to respond so she just went went with the first thing that came to mind. "What?"

"Oh come on," chided Anna with a shake of her head, pausing in her brushing. "You were just telling me about how I woke you while you were having a great dream." When Elsa neither confirmed or denied she resumed combing. "So, what kind of dream was it?"

The smart thing to do probably would have been to lie. To make up a dream rather than to tell the truth for if she knew there was absolutely no way Elsa was going to describe the heady zeal she'd experienced to her little sister. That would have been the smart thing to do. However, the sudden change in subjects caught her so off guard she couldn't think of anything other than what actually happened and was left with no choice but to say, "Oh. That's, uh, not important."

Despite her best efforts to keep a straight face her defenses quickly began to crumble as she felt a blush bleeding into her cheeks, a smile trying to pull at her lips as she glanced down at her lap, unable to look at Anna. Not that that helped when Anna said, "Oh, so it was that kind of dream."

Jerking her head up, Elsa feigned a bewildered expression. "I didn't say anything!" she protested, probably a little too strongly.

Smirking, Anna shrugged. "No, but your eyes sure as heck did." She then paused in her work again and glanced at Elsa, her eyes shrewd. "Let me guess. Did it feature a certain lord we both know?"

Once again Elsa felt her embarrassment rise, only this time she didn't bother trying to hide it as she ducked her head and sank a little lower in her chair, unwilling to meet her sister's gaze again as she mumbled, "Maybe."

Normally she would have expected Anna to tease her about something like this but much to her relief all Anna said was, "Thought so." However, he relief was short lived when Elsa heard her add, "Maybe you should tell Aaron about your dream."

Though she obviously said it like a joke Elsa still felt her heart give a skip a the mere thought of her telling Aaron about it. Trying to tell him about the fantasy she envisioned with him. Her cheeks reddened again just at the notion of it. "Aaron's never going to find out about these dreams." Just imagine if he found out. God that'd be embarrassing.

… "'Dreams'? So this is a recurring thing with you?"

Mentally kicking herself, Elsa just prayed that her sister didn't the look of horror that flashed across her face. Why'd I say that?! Why'd I have to tell her this isn't the first time I've had a dream like that?! Again her mortification got the better of her tongue and she found herself stumbling as she quietly replied, "...N-no. I… I don't recall saying that."

"Sure you don't." Laughter had returned to Anna's voice but it quickly faded when she continued, saying, "But for what it's worth I am sorry I disturbed you," as she began to weave Elsa's hair into its braid.

At first Elsa made to jokingly scold her again only to pause as she grew thoughtful, her eyes drifting off. "I wasn't really upset that you 'interrupted'. It was more that it had to end," she said slowly, toying with her finger as she reflected on the dream. The carnal delight had been nice… okay, more than nice, but there had been more to it. Something she didn't have in reality. "We were finally together without having to hide. He was happy and I was happy and it was just so… simple."

For a while neither of them spoke, with Anna finishing off the braid while Elsa stared down at her hands, her mind focused on that last thought. Simple… how nice that must be. Eventually she noticed that Anna had finished her work yet still wasn't saying anything. Glancing up, she looked into the mirror to see that she was giving her a sad smile. When their eyes met, though, the smile perked up as Anna placed a consoling hand on her shoulder.

"At the end of the day I guess we all just want something simple, don't we?" she asked before turning and walking over to the side table to pick up the flower crown. Lifting it gingerly, she continued talking as she brought it over to Elsa. "We just want someone love and be there for us with no strings attached. But I'm sure you and Aaron will have that one day."

Smiling wistfully, Elsa patiently waited as Anna lowered the crown onto her, nodding slightly at her words. "I hope so." After taking one last look at herself in the mirror she rose to her feet and gave her hands a wave in the process, causing her night gown to morph and lengthen into a formal dress, her cape sprouting and trailing on the ground behind her. Content with her appearance, she looked back at Anna and said, "Well, the public's waiting for us. I guess we shouldn't keep them waiting too much longer."

Nodding in agreement, Anna crossed to the door and opened it before pausing to look back at her. "After you, sis."

After smiling at the gesture Elsa made to leave the room, but not before casting one more glance at her bed. Yes, she sincerely wished that she and Aaron could be together like that one day. That day just wouldn't be today.