Elsa stared forlornly at the woman she had fallen in love with, who lay prone on the bed and unconscious from her wounds.

When she'd seen the bolt pierce Kaya, Elsa had looked in the direction that the arrow had come from, only to see a regal-looking young woman in gesturing angrily at a figure that looked to be Zmeya, who quickly had the crossbow that she had been holding knocked out of her hands.

Movement in the sky had drawn Elsa's attention back to Kaya, who had then been in a harsh descent towards the ground.

She reacted on instinct alone and threw her magic to catch the woman.

After creating a soft cloud of snow for the fire magic user to land on, she promptly jumped off the side of the ship, freezing the water below before her feet ever made contact.

She didn't slow or turn at the cries of the soldiers behind her to go back; she had to get to Kaya.

It was only a few minutes before Elsa had finally reached her captain, but to the Snow Queen it felt more like weeks.

Elsa had tried to control her reaction to the crimson color that was staining her magical snow, a crimson she knew belonged inside Kaya's body, not out of it. If she hadn't been cautious, she could've ended up freezing the few brave souls that had dared to follow her out onto the ice, one of them being Kaya's second, Loren.

It took two men to lift their captain's recumbent form from the snow and carry back to the ship and to where the woman now lay, in a deep and, Elsa hoped, healing sleep.

To think that Kaya had been right about everything and she might never have had the chance to apologize and thank her for always looking out for her...

The thought was too much for Elsa to bear. And the last thing she wanted was for Kaya to wake to the sight of her tear-stained face. She wanted nothing more than to stay by Kaya's side until she regained consciousness, she couldn't seem to contain her emotions. Not this time.

So she did what she always did when she was experiencing a powerful, unfamiliar emotion that she wasn't sure she could control.

She ran away.


Time to wake up, my dear.

Even though Orinda's voice was considerately lowered, it still didn't do anything for the splitting headache she was sporting, not to mention the still-smarting puncture wound from Zmeya's arrow.

You should go to her, if you think you can manage it. Orinda suggested. That pretty little snowflake of yours seems close to losing her mind!

Kaya had no doubt that the demon was exaggerating, but that didn't stop her from immediately seeking out Elsa's heat signature on the ship, and it looked like she was two doors down, seemingly pacing back and forth.

Ignoring the stabbing pain in her chest that made it feel like she was being hit with that arrow all over again, she forced her body into a sitting position and proceeded to slowly make her way out of the room, leaning on various furniture as needed.


Elsa paced back and forth in the room that had served as a makeshift study on their voyage. In the back of her mind, she knew the room was meant to be a sort of containment unit for her when she got upset, but she was too distraught about Kaya to care.

"Get it together." She reprimanded herself. "Control it!"

Still she paced, her breathing erratic. "Don't feel, don't feel, don't feel." She repeated the mantra to herself over and over, hoping it would help.

An amused voice called. "You're going about it all wrong, you know."

Elsa turned. "Kaya!"

Kaya still looked exhausted, but she was standing, at least, and leaning her weight against the doorway.

Stepping quickly up to her, Elsa scanned her form. "Should you be up yet?"

Kaya shrugged as best she could without irritating her injury. "I've had worse."

Elsa's face contorted into an expression of grief and Kaya didn't resist the urge to pull Elsa into her arms, squeezing the queen slightly to reassure her that she was alive, and that she was right here.

"Have you always tried to control your powers that way?"

Elsa, shocked at the usually stoic captain had initiated physical contact, had a little trouble focusing on the question.

She looked away guilty. "Yes."

"It never worked, did it?"

Shaking her head, Elsa replied. "Never for long. It just kept piling up..."

As Elsa trailed off, Kaya guided her to a settee where they both sat, with Elsa taking a chance and shyly curling against Kaya's good shoulder.

Kaya brushed errant strands of platinum blonde hair away from in front of Elsa's eyes. "Perhaps you should try letting your emotions free next time."

"But-"

"Elsa, you are a person, just like the rest of us." Kaya was angry, not at Elsa, but at all of those who had made Elsa feel differently. "You have just as much right to feel whatever you want, whenever you want."

Sniffling, Elsa finally composed herself, loving the way Kaya was now speaking her given name. "Maybe I will."

Kaya nodded. "Good." She looked away slightly. "Look Elsa, I -"

"I'm so sorry."

The words were not unexpected, but Kaya thought it best to allow the queen to continue with her apology.

"I should have listened to you when you told me that Zmeya wasn't what she appeared." Her eyes welled up again. "You nearly died because I didn't-"

Kaya had had enough with the back and forth. It was time to talk about the elephant in the room.

So she did the only logical thing she could think of to do.

She kissed the Queen of Arendelle.

Elsa had to have been surprised, but that didn't deter her from returning the kiss enthusiastically with one of her own, winding her hands up and around Kaya's shoulders and tilting her head to give Kaya better access.

Even Kaya, with all her experience with the pleasures of the flesh, was struck dumb by the force of the emotions that washed over her in those few heated moments that Elsa's lips were in contact with hers. Fear, excitement, arousal, tenderness and...

Love. Orinda supplied.

It wasn't a question.

The growing pain in her shoulder forced the pair to separate sooner than either had a mind for, but Kaya leaned her forehead against Elsa's, breathing in more harshly than if she'd run a mile straight.

Kaya was the one who broke the silence.

"I should've been more honest with you about how I knew Zmeya...Maybe you would've been more inclined to believe me if you'd known of our history."

"I kind of suspected there had to be a history, given the way you were acting."

"She and I were...lovers, once. She was a citizen of Palladon, but had married a foreigner to gain more political influence."

"She was married when you two were involved?"

"Yes, but back then I wasn't the type to refuse someone that wouldn't demand more from me than I was willing to give them." Of course that was no excuse for knowingly participating in adultery, and Kaya could've said no, but at the time, the relationship had worked for both parties.

Until it didn't.

"I mistakenly assumed that she felt nothing more than physical attraction for me, and when I told her that I couldn't- wouldn't give her what she wanted, she couldn't take it."

"What exactly did she want?"

Kaya would've thought that obvious.

"My love."

Elsa couldn't help but wonder what that phrase would sound like as a reference to her, rather than to an emotion.

Kaya continued to tell Elsa about how Zmeya had proceeded to frame her for the deaths of her father and stepmother.

"So that other woman on the cliff...?"

"My stepsister, yes, but we were always closer to real siblings because she was only a year or two old when my father and her mother married. I sent her a letter informing her about Zmeya's treason."

Elsa put the pieces together and sighed, the relief that Kaya had regained consciousness and had seemingly accepted and returned her feelings finally taking its toll.

"Tired?"

At her nod, Kaya took Elsa's hand and led her back to the room she had woken up in She tried not to sigh tiredly as she sank onto the mattress. She had been fighting her growing exhaustion too.

As Kaya lay down, she noted Elsa's trepidation.

Elsa spoke first. "Does this mean you won't be leaving when we get back to Arendelle?"

The queen tried to hide the widening of her eyes as the other woman burst into laughter and tugged her down onto the bed with her. It was a hard pull, so Elsa ended up catching herself on her arms, face inches above her captain's.

"Yes, Elsa," Kaya said between the rare laughing fit. "I won't be leaving."

She put her mouth on Elsa's, loving the raw way Elsa moaned at the contact.

When they parted, Elsa asked. "What changed your mind?"

Kaya raised an eyebrow, thinking that would've been obvious.

"You, of course." She stated in a matter-of-factly way.

The look Elsa gave her had her rethinking the descriptiveness of her explanation.

Rolling her eyes, Kaya continued. "With all that happened with Zmeya...The whole thing made me think about what really mattered to me. About things I couldn't stand losing."

Kaya ran her hands up and down Elsa's sides, wondering if she could melt the snow using her magic.

"Me too." Elsa said, in reference to Kaya's previous statement.

Ignoring the way her chest protested, Kaya pushed herself up slightly, smiling when Elsa met her halfway.

Pulling away, Kaya promised, "I'm not going anywhere. You'd have to order me to leave."

Elsa giggled and lowered herself on her arms so that she was laying beside her beloved.

"Oh, what will Anna say when she hears?" Elsa fought to prevent a girlish giggle from escaping her lips as she curled into Kaya's good side.

"Think of it this way: at least she won't be setting you up on those ridiculous blind dates with foreign dignitaries anymore." Kaya growled.

Elsa just laughed for what felt like the first time in years.

She didn't even notice that all the ice in the other room had melted.