Chapter 6:

The next few days were the most carefree the Night Fury had ever had. Every day for the next week, Elsa came to see him, usually with Gale and Bruni coming along. She always brought him food and checked his injury (which was healing much faster than he would have expected).

After he'd eaten, she always stayed for a while afterwards. She showed him some of her ice magic (which he had to admit was incredible), and told him about the Enchanted Forest, as well as the nearby kingdom of Arendelle, where she was born.

He'd tensed up a bit at the mention of a nearby kingdom. The idea of so many humans being so close by…True, Elsa was fine, but he knew from experience that most humans hated his kind.

She'd seen him tense up, and seemed to realize what his problem was. "You're afraid of humans, aren't you?" She'd asked.

He'd wanted to deny it, but simply hid his head in his front feet. He heard her keep talking. "Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you. You don't even have to stay here. Once you can fly again, you can leave if you want to." The way she spoke, he could already tell that she didn't want him to leave.

This surprised him. A human…wanting him to stay? For years, it had seemed that, wherever he and his brother had landed, there had always been someone (be it Vikings, dragons, the occasional aggressive boar) trying to chase them away. But now…he was wanted.

By the third day, he was strong enough to walk again. Bruni and Gale had been overjoyed: the Fire Spirit set himself ablaze again, while Gale managed to lift the dragon off of his feet for a few seconds (his attempts to get free proved that he still wasn't strong enough to fly yet). Elsa had been equally as happy, and after thinking for a moment had asked him to follow her.

It was on that day that she introduced him to the other Spirits: the Nokk (a horse made of water), and the Earth Giants (enormous beings made of rock). He'd been startled by them at first, but they all seemed to like him. Although the Nokk seemed jealous of him for some reason, and had insisted on taking Elsa for a ride down the river while glaring at the Night Fury. He'd spent a majority of that afternoon being held or petted by the Earth Giants. They'd been a little rough, but the dragon wasn't about to complain (partially out of fear of being crushed). Elsa had assured him that the giants liked him, and it was clear that she'd found the sight of him being petted like a puppy amusing.

On the fourth day, they'd merely sat in the ice tent she'd made for him, as she leaned against his side and simply…talked to him. He learned that she had been the queen of the human kingdom before she learned that she was the Fifth Spirit, and how she'd left the throne to her sister so that she could stay in the Forest.

"Honestly, sometimes I'm happy that I'm not the Queen anymore. There were so many rules, responsibilities, expectations…but the worst part was the kings and princes from other lands. Every week, some single man from a distant kingdom would come and suggest I marry them, or their son. Even a few queens and princesses tried it. But I always turned them down. That, I think, is the worst part of being a queen. Everyone expects you to marry, whether you want to or not. The advisors all thought I turned them down because I was too shy or scared, but the truth is…I just don't want to get married. Not to a man, not to a woman…not to anyone. Is that bad?"

The Night Fury paused. Dragons didn't "marry" as Elsa had said, but mating was considered an important part of a dragon's life. After all, it was how they put more dragons into the world, which was very important considering how fast the Vikings tried to kill them off. But while his brother talked on occasion of the mate of his dreams, he had never given a thought to it. Even if there had been many female Night Furies around, he didn't think he'd want to. He'd never told anyone that, not even his brother.

It seemed that he and Elsa had more in common than he'd previously thought. He turned to face her, and looked into her eyes. She looked back. In that moment, he saw himself. A powerful being that had been feared, but who was in truth a gentle soul who adored their sibling.

Before either of them knew what was happening, she was reaching her hand out. She stopped halfway, as if hesitating, and averted her eyes. He looked at her hand for a moment, then shut his eyes, moved forward, and closed the distance. He felt her hand on his nose. It was ice cold, but not unpleasant. He pulled away after a few moments. Elsa looked surprised, but overjoyed. She then reached into her basket.

"My sister sends care packages now and then. She knows that it's hard to get chocolate here, so she always sends me some." She held up a brown rectangle. He sniffed it. It smelled sweet. Very sweet. She called it a brownie, and tossed it into the air. He caught it without thinking.

There was now another thing they had in common. Both of them were fond of chocolate.

It was on the fifth day that he'd gained enough strength to fly. He'd discovered it when Gale had, yet again, sent him into the air. He'd flapped his wings, and with the slightest effort he pulled free, flying in a circle around his ice tent before landing.

He'd given a celebratory roar. Elsa, who'd been watching, began to clap. "You did it!"

He puffed out his chest, proud of himself. While the last few days had been restful, he'd missed the feeling of being in the air. He looked to the sky, knowing he'd be up there again soon. If he'd wanted, he could've taken off, right then. But…

He'd flown alone for so long. It'd be nice to have a friend with him. He looked to Elsa, then at the sky, then to Elsa.

She finally understood. "You want to fly…with me?"

He imitated a gesture he'd seen her make: a nod. She smiled, though she looked a little nervous. "Okay. But if we're going to fly, then there's somewhere I need you to take me."