Summary: It was easy to let go when she believed she would never have to face the world again. It wasn't so easy when she felt the pressures of the kingdom to protect, the sister to care for, and the feelings she felt surfacing despite her attempts to squash them down like fresh snow under heavy boots. This is a story about the other side that Elsa was forced to hide. [ElsaxOFC] [KristoffxAnna]

Author's Note: I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to read this. Hope this chapter is consistent with what you've enjoyed so far. :)


Chapter Six: Stronger


Natalia had been fifteen when it happened. That meant that she had spent fifteen years of being adored by the people of Kohbara. They believed that her powers had been a gift from the gods and that she would one day bring them all some kind of good fortune. She had a room in the palace with a wall made out of windows and a large glass door to let the sunlight in. The room was filled with the gifts and offerings she received. She lived in luxury and spent her afternoons in that room on her favorite lounge chairs. The warm sun filtered through the open windows as servants brought her drinks and treats.

There was one servant in particular that Natalia noticed more than the others. She was a petite woman with black eyes and short black hair. One day, when the girl brought in a tray of lunch for her, she asked her name. The girl was surprised to be spoken to by the princess, but replied that her name was Tri.

Tri had a delightful smile that Natalia found somewhat infectious. She was always grinning when she walked into the room to serve lunch. As she stepped back to let Natalia eat, her smile might start to fade. The princesses decided that she should start talking to her so that wouldn't happen.

"Open that present for me please," she'd said one day. Her finger pointed to the first wrapped box that it found. Somewhat apprehensively, the servant picked up the package and went to work opening it. When she finally retrieved the necklace inside, Natalia asked,

"Do you like it?"

"Oh yes. It's beautiful, your majesty."

"I want you to have it. It would look even better on you."

"It could never look as good on me as it would on you, your majesty. I wouldn't even wish it."

Seeing the unbelievably large smile this brought to Tri's face was more pleasing to her than any of those presents could have been. She liked to repeat this random gift-giving quite often. She would always compliment Tri, and Tri would compliment her right back.

Before long, Natalia realized that she had developed quite the liking for the young woman. After being served her lunch one day, she beckoned her to come closer. She brushed Tri's cheek with her hand, and Tri didn't shy away. She didn't even appear to question the action. She welcomed it.

It had progressed from there to kissing. Kissing the servant girl was a risky move brought on by desire. There was desire within her to sort out feelings that she had been leery of since the beginning of her turbulent teenage years, as well as a desire to become close to someone in a way that she had never had the chance to before. The secret kissing, touching, and exploring went on for about a month. The girl would come in to serve lunch as usual, but the princess usually wasn't interested in the food.

"Your majesty," Tri said one day. She was a little breathless as she lay beneath the princess on her chaise.

"Please, you know you do not have to use that title."

"I think I should," Tri said seriously. "I do not want to talk out of term, but this is going very far. And I'm afraid that you don't know what might happen if anyone were to find out."

"I know that this isn't what a princess normally does," Natalia explained. "But it's alright. No one knows anyway."

"Well, it's just that, there are so many people out there that do not approve of this. Why, I have never told you this, but my mother had another sister once. But when they caught her dressing as a man and lying with another woman…she was disowned. They ran her out of her home, then ran her out of the town, and out of the country. And I'm just afraid that I may meet the same fate."

This sort of thing had never occurred to Natalia. This had always been a special thing that happened between them, and she never spoke a word of it to anyone else. Still, there was always the possibility of someone finding out…

"That's why I agreed to the arrangement my father has made for me."

Natalia gaped at her, shocked.

"Arrangement?"

"Yes. He found a man for me who has a stable income and a nice home in the countryside. It was too good a deal to refuse. I did not want my father thinking that I was like my mother's sister. I do not want to be disowned."

Natalia felt her heart swelling, but not in a pleasant way. Tears stung at her eyes.

"You are just going to leave me?"

"I am so sorry, your majesty. People like my father and mother just do not approve of things like this. Most people are the same way."

"Well I am not," Natalia said. The anger inside of her was building and beginning to bubble out. "I can be happy the way that I am. I would never sacrifice my happiness for someone else. Especially not for some man!"

Tri wouldn't look at her now. She stood and kept her head bowed.

"I have no choice, your majesty."

"Of course you do!" Natalia shouted. She reached out to grab her by the arm. Tri tried to pull away in surprise, but it only made Natalia grip tighter.

"Don't run away from me!" She screamed desperately. Unfortunately, her anger was strong enough to turn the gesture into a scorching blast of heat from her palm. Tri's arm was deeply burned, and the servant let out a cry of absolute pain. The look that Tri gave her was one of absolute fear.

The nurse took the young woman away shortly after. It was the last time Natalia saw her. She still felt guilty for the temporary loss of control, and resolved to keep her powers mostly to herself and her brother. When word got out that a servant of the king was burned by his daughter and moved away shortly after, gossip spread. The luxurious gifts stopped when the people of Kohbara began to rethink the motives of a human princess with godlike powers.

The whole event made Natalia see things in a different way. She understood that there would be people in the world that would hate her. But what was the sense in focusing on the hate? She had to love herself, even when no one else would. The way she felt inside wasn't going to change. Luckily, she did have Leo and he had always agreed with her. It was best to use her writing to escape when she felt lonely and to remember that one day everything would make sense.

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind. On the morning of her fourth day in Arendelle, she sat in the middle of the guest room with her legs crossed and her mind completely focused. Each warm breath she released served to calm her, along with each recitation of her mantra. When she had finished her usual cycle, she felt relaxed and refreshed. Her eyes opened slowly and she realized why she hadn't felt the morning sun on her face yet. The sky was full of weighty rain clouds, and it wouldn't be long before all of Arendelle was caught in a downpour.

There was a knock from the door. She unfolded her legs and turned to face it as she called,

"Come in".

Leo stepped into the room, already dressed in his normal regal attire. He was always so pulled together, but she knew it was only for show. Beneath was the playful, easy-going kid he'd always been. She smiled as he took a seat on the edge of her bed.

"How are you doing?"

"Great. Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby. Metaphorically speaking. Babies really aren't good sleepers, but I had a pleasant night. How about you?"

"I had an amazing night," she sighed wistfully and fell back onto the floor, spreading out her arms and legs. "I did something I shouldn't have done, but it still felt right."

One of Leo's dark eyebrows arched upward.

"Should I know about this forbidden thing?"

"It's nothing too terrible," she began to explain. "It was only a kiss on the hand."

"Scandalous."

"Well it is! For a princess to do for a queen is most unorthodox."

"That's very true. I should be scolding you. How did she react?"

The princess smiled fondly at the memory.

"She said, 'Never been better'. And I don't know if she meant it or not, but it sounded that like she did. She didn't pull away and run screaming. She didn't slap me across the face. So maybe she liked it?"

Leo smirked, amused by his sister and genuinely intrigued.

"What? You think Elsa is even more like you than we originally thought?"

"I sure hope so. Just looking at her gives me all of those silly feelings. Have you seen her eyes? And her smile is perfect. She's so gentle and soft and sweet it hurts. I can't stop thinking about her! It isn't natural for a person to take up this much room in another person's head."

"Well, just keep in mind that we sail back to the other half of the world at the end of this week. There may be a chance that you've found another magic-wielding young adult female that also shares your…unique romantic interests, but that would mean an incredible coincidence."

"Maybe not," Natalia mused. "People are put on this earth and destined to meet for a reason, Leo. Chance encounters are really just fate stepping in."

"True. I've always believed that myself. But this is still a queen we're talking about. A queen that seems a bit more traditional than you, if you ask me. Not that that is a bad thing."

"You want to make it a bet?"

"No, I do not want to make it a bet!"

"Why? Because you know I'll win?"

"I do not want to bet on whether or not you can get the queen of Arendelle to cause a national scandal with you."

"Stop using that word. We're at a very innocent stage right now!"

"As you should be." He made a face. "I do not want to think about anything un-innocent going on. That is going way too far. I'm speaking from a diplomatic standpoint: this could cause very poor relations between two kingdoms that may be able to depend on one another in the future if you do not allow your judgment to be clouded."

She looked up at him.

"What would you say as a brother?"

He paused a moment. Then, calmly,

"If you really feel very strongly about this then just take it slow. I can see why you like her. She is rather pretty."

Natalia jumped up and hugged her brother tightly before starting to get ready for the day.

"What should I wear? No, don't tell me, I already have something in mind."

Leo shook his head before glancing out the window.

"Huh. The weather might put a damper on Princess Anna's schedule."

Natalia tugged her dress over her head.

"Oh, I'm sure she has something else planned."

o o o

"But I didn't plan anything for indoors!" Anna lamented, letting her forehead drop against the glass of a closed window that was currently being pelted by rain. Her pout squished against the cool surface of the pane.

"It'll clear up by tomorrow," Kristoff said. "Spending one day inside won't be the worst thing ever."

The girl beside him turned and threw her arms out in a dramatic gesture.

"I've done practically everything there is to do inside of this place."

"Not with all of us, you haven't." Kristoff motioned to illustrate his point. Around her in the common area were the prince, princess, and queen. Elsa refused to let her eyes meet Natalia's. Not because she didn't want to look at her (she most certainly did want to look at her)but because she knew she'd get visibly flustered over what had happened the night before, as brief as it was. A first kiss was still a first kiss.

"That's true." Anna mulled over the possibilities. "Oh! I know! I'll get my bike and we can-,"

"No." Elsa said firmly.

"But-,"

"Absolutely not. I will not send Kohbara's leaders home with fractured skulls and broken limbs just because you thought it would be a good idea to push them down a spiraling staircase."

Leo and Natalia exchanged a look.

"Fine," Anna said. "Then hide and seek it is!"

Elsa squeezed her own arm with her hand, a nervous gesture that had not quite left her.

"Well, that game is a little childish…"

"Not it!" Leo shouted, throwing his hand into the air.

"Me either!" Natalia followed.

Elsa glanced at them, confused.

"Not it!" Kristoff added in quickly.

Elsa sensed that Anna would try and beat her to it. She lost her royal dignity, nearly falling out of her chair, as she cried out,

"Not it!"

Anna giggled.

"It's great to see you getting excited about it. I wanted to be the finder anyway."

Kristoff snorted at Elsa, who then gave him a playful glare. Anna spun around on her heels, covered her eyes and said,

"Okay, you guys have until I count to thirty."

Kristoff took off first, and Leo and Natalia were dashing right behind him. Elsa quickly left the room and went right, the opposite way that Natalia was headed. She knew already where she would hide, so it was convenient that she could continue to ignore her guest without making it seem to obvious that she was avoiding the confrontation. Elsa had lain awake the night before clutching her kissed hand and thinking about the difficult situation she faced. This kiss signaled the very unlikely possibility that Natalia had feelings for her. That thought was dangerous as just a thought, so she felt she needed some time to let herself think things through.

Natalia stopped when she noticed Elsa turning the other way. She abandoned her original plan quickly. Fitting into a suit of armor with such a short time frame probably wouldn't have worked anyway. She started to walk briskly to follow the queen, who was quite a ways ahead of her. By the time she turned another corner at the end of the hall, she had lost sight of Elsa. Thankfully, she caught sight of the largest door in the hall creaking shut and a grin broke out across her face. What better place to hide than the castle library?

She walked in between some of the huge rows of books. On the shelves stood colored spines with thousands of different titles on them. She was half tempted to search for a good one to take with her as she hid, but finding Elsa was more appealing at the moment. She eventually made her way deeper into the library and found a small reading area surrounded by windows. Elsa stood nearby, lifting the seat of a cushioned bench and revealing a hidden storage space beneath. Natalia was impressed. She was taking her hiding seriously.

"That's a great spot," Natalia complimented. Elsa jumped, and the princess immediately felt guilty for scaring her.

"Oh. Thank you." Elsa didn't seem to relax much when she realized who it was that was speaking to her. "I didn't notice you were behind me."

"I didn't know where to hide," Natalia lied. Well, it wasn't a full lie. "This place is pretty unfamiliar. I didn't want to get lost."

"Right," Elsa replied. She still had one hand on the lid of the bench. Her eyes drifted toward it instead of looking at the other girl. The thought of the kiss came back into her head. She wondered if Natalia still thought about it too, or if it was just a common gesture that hadn't meant a thing. Romance was proving to be a terrible challenge. Even if she had meant the kiss to be a sign of affection, how could she get her to admit it?

"Elsa." Natalia stepped closer. "Did I make you feel uncomfortable last night?"

Elsa turned her attention on her fully now. At least one of her questions had been answered. Natalia was still thinking about it.

"What? No. Why would you think that?"

"You just seem a little different today. I want to make sure that I didn't cross any lines that I shouldn't have."

"Oh no," Elsa assured her. "I'm fine." She hesitated only a moment before adding, "It was only a kiss on the hand, right?"

"Right."

Both of them felt a little let down. Neither of them wanted to think of it as 'just a kiss' because they both wanted it to lead somewhere else. Thinking of what Leo had told her, Natalia gathered some courage.

"Just a kiss on the hand," she repeated. She tried her best to sound nonchalant. "I could do it again and it would feel just the same."

"Yes. It would." Elsa nodded her head, letting Natalia's words sink in. She had been working with legalese text books and craftily-worded documents for a long time. Natalia had a strong grasp of language, from what Elsa could tell. It was possible that what she was saying had a hidden meaning to it. Elsa decided to test it with a vague comment of her own. "Actually, it might feel a little different today."

"Why is that?" Natalia asked, not having expected that response.

"Well, I actually have some perfume on my hand today." She smiled at the princess. Natalia had a weakness for beautiful smiles like hers.

"Oh really?" she neared Elsa and lifted her hand with her fingers. "What does it smell like?"

Elsa took in a breath of air quietly.

"It's some sort of flower. I've forgotten." Elsa knew what it was, but the name wouldn't come to her. Not with Natalia repeating what she did the night before. She felt the warmth of the princess's lips spread from her hand to her whole body. She noted that Natalia lingered a bit longer than she had the first time. Her eyes connected with Elsa's as she gently pulled her lips back and grinned.

"It tastes quite nice too."

Elsa's head was spinning. Was this what courting was like? This is what courting had always sounded like. But could Natalia really be making advances on her? Was it possible? A loud crash coming from the opposite side of the room snapped her back to coherent thought.

"Oops!" Anna's voice rang out in the silence. "I'll just pick that up later…"

"It's Anna," Natalia whispered. She was glancing toward the source of the sound, which had undoubtedly been the result of Anna knocking over a stack of books by the entrance of the library. Natalia glanced at the open hiding spot that Elsa had revealed and smirked as she slipped into it, forgetting momentarily that she was still holding the Queen's hand. She tugged her gently forward. Elsa must not have been thinking straight, and followed the slight pull. Just as Natalia had gotten herself settled comfortably on her back, Elsa tumbled in on top of her and slammed the lid shut.

"I heard that!" Anna called, somewhere off in the distance. It was then that Elsa realized what she had just done. Her entire body was pressed against Natalia's in the darkness of the close space. Almost immediately, she did a sort of push up and stayed in the air with her arms and feet supporting her. Should she move, she wondered? Should she just give up on trying to win the silly game and reveal them both? Uncomfortably trying to hover over Natalia, she hoped she couldn't see her flustered face through the dark. Just as she was about to escape the very awkward situation, a thought occurred to her.

Anna is headed this way right now. If she sees us like this, I will never hear the end of it.

She gulped. Now she would just have to pray Anna was as terrible at hide-and-go-seek as she was when they were little kids.

Natalia was thankful that she could move both of her arms; though that was the extent of movement she could manage in the confined space. She lit a gentle flame with the tips of her fingers, feeling bad when it made Elsa jump.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly. "It's alright. I just wanted some light." She let her other hand touch Elsa's back comfortingly. It only made Elsa want to squirm more.

"Please be quiet." She said with her lips tight and eyes focused forward. "I really don't want Anna to find us."

Natalia could have sworn she saw redness in Elsa's cheeks. But no, she told herself. It must have been from the flames.

Elsa's heart was pounding. She had never been this close to another woman. She was just getting used to being around other people, but none of them ever hugged her. Now, as her arms and toes began to grow tired from holding herself up, she wondered how she was going to manage getting even closer.

"Um," Natalia noticed Elsa's arms wobbling. She tried to keep her voice as quiet as possible. "You can lie down." Elsa noticed the princess's eyes were directed away from her as she spoke, as if she were embarrassed too. She took in a breath and gently lowered herself down. Natalia tried her hardest not to enjoy the predicament they were in. Even if it wasn't entirely her fault, she felt like they might be crossing a border here. Kissing a hand was one thing. Being caught in a position like this had some other implications.

Elsa was perfectly aware of those implications and of her body's reaction to them. As nervous as this all made her, she couldn't help but notice how wonderful it felt to be pressed up against the beautiful princess beneath her. It was beyond warm, and her stomach twisted in an unfamiliar way.

"No," Elsa thought quickly. "This is not the time. This is not the place."

Then they heard the footsteps. Anna was just a few feet away. They lay in silence. Natalia closed her eyes and began to silently recite one of her mantras to keep her mind far away from all of the things it could be thinking. Elsa listened intently, scared to death that Anna would open the bench. She had to know it was there. She had spent enough time in the castle to know every secret it had.

"I know you're in here somewhere…" Anna grinned mischievously. Elsa knew by the sound of her voice and the creaking of the doors that she'd opened the cabinet towards the right side of the room. "I don't know which one of you is in here though. I probably shouldn't do anything too embarrassing. Ah ha!"

Elsa, sure that the sound meant Anna had figured it out, was so startled that she moved. This broke Natalia's concentration and caused her to grip the walls of their tiny hiding space. Unfortunately, she'd completely forgotten about the flame coming out of her hand. She scorched the inside of the bench and made a significant amount of smoke rise out of the crack where the lid met the burned wood. Elsa stared at her in horror. This was not good.

"Natalia!"

Anna ran over to the bench and flung the lid open happily.

"I found you…oh."

Elsa looked up over her shoulder at her sister, whose expression changed rapidly. First, it was surprise. Then, slight confusion. When her brain finally registered what she was seeing, though, a knowing smile spread across her rosy cheeks.

"Oh," she repeated. Her tone more suggestive this time. "I see what's going on here."

Elsa blushed furiously and sat up as fast as she could manage, climbing out of the bench.

"Nothing! Nothing is going on. You found us. Good job. Move on!" She pushed her sister's back gently, urging her out of the room.

"I am. I wouldn't want to interrupt your alone time any longer."

Anna glanced at Natalia and winked. Natalia gaped at her. Was she saying…?

"I have no idea what you are implying."

Oh she was.

"Who said I was implying anything?"

"Anna!" Elsa cried desperately.

With another giggle, Anna skipped out of the room. The mortified queen turned back to look at her guest, who now had her feet planted back on the carpet. Still shocked from the gesture Anna had made, she began to wonder if Anna knew something she didn't.

"I am so sorry," the queen began. "I should have never- that was very- And my sister didn't mean-,"

"Elsa." The way she said her name was firm but still gentle, just like the touch of her hand on her arm as she said it. Her expression suggested she was not upset at all. "Please. Don't worry about it. Though, your sister said something I found sort of interesting."

Elsa tried to pull herself together. Standing straighter, she put on her best regal face. It was the only way she could see herself saying a full sentence at this point.

"She sometimes lets her imagination get the best of her."

"Then there is another thing her and I have in common. Only, I hope that we aren't letting our imaginations run too wild this time."

"What do you mean?" Elsa asked cautiously.

"I really don't want there to be any unnecessary tension between us."

"Tension? Oh no, there's none of that."

"Are you sure? You seemed quite tense in there."

Elsa cringed.

"Well it was a little embarrassing. And very, very un-queen-like."

"So is playing hide-n-seek. We were only hugging. Horizontally, but still hugging."

"Oh is that what it was?" Elsa covered her mouth as she laughed. "We had not even gotten to vertical hugging, you know. You skipped right over that. Kissing is supposed to come afterward."

"I will admit that I have been very forward with you. You just don't seem to be moving backward."

Elsa hesitated only a moment.

"No. I haven't been."

"Am I welcome then to take that as a sign? A sign that I may continue being forward?" Natalia knew this was dangerous territory. She only hoped Elsa understood what she was asking and let her down gently if the answer was no.

Elsa could hardly believe what was happening. Whereas not very many minutes ago she was questioning Natalia's intentions, they seemed quite clear now. Somehow she was saying exactly what needed to be said without actually saying anything. The uncertainty of it all made Elsa nervous. The fact that they felt naturally drawn to one another was undeniable, but this was different. This meant so many things. This meant…

"I'm really not alone after all," Elsa whispered, mostly to herself. Natalia smiled and stepped closer.

"We aren't alone."

Natalia wrapped her arms slowly around the queen, this time able to enjoy the feeling of their contact much more. She kept her hands high on Elsa's back, but drew her near to feel her inner warmth and the shape of her body. Elsa relaxed into her arms and hugged the princess back. She closed her eyes after a moment, feeling safe rather than anxious. Still, the moment was overwhelming. The majority of her life had told her she was all alone, and that there would never be anyone like her in the world. But somehow she now stood in the arms of a woman that was like her in so many ways.

The clearing of a throat broke the quiet, tender moment. Elsa leaped backwards as soon as she heard it, and was relieved that she did so. Leo had made the noise, and behind him stood her sister and the burly ice harvester.

"You found the boys quickly," Natalia pointed out. Elsa admired the way she could act as though nothing had happened.

"Kristoff chose a really lame place to hide," Anna explained.

"I'm too big to fit in any of the cabinets in this place!"

"That's not a very good excuse. You could have climbed up into the rafters."

"With what, Anna? I don't carry my rope around the house."

"Well maybe you should. It might come in handy in places you wouldn't expect."

"Where did you hide?" Natalia interrupted, her question aimed at Leo. "Under a rug?"

"Behind a statue, actually!" Anna happily answered. "It was really clever."

Leo confirmed this with a nod.

"I gave myself up when I heard Anna tell Kristoff where she found you hiding. More specifically: how you were hiding and with whom."

Elsa, her eyes wide, looked at her sister. Anna gave her a sheepish, somewhat apologetic expression. Leo glanced at the bench.

"We'll pay to have that replaced, Queen Elsa."

Elsa blinked.

"Wait, what? Oh. Of course. You really don't have to, though. It isn't antique wood or anything."

"I insist," Leo said, still maintaining his more royal tone of voice. "It's one thing that I can actually fix. All of the other trouble my sister might cause you? I'm afraid it's out of my hands."

He flashed Elsa a friendly smile, and she understood that he was trying to be funny. She glanced over to Natalia.

"That's true. I can sense she's a bit of a trouble-maker."

"Me?" Natalia scoffed. "Never." A ball of fire sprung to life in her cupped palm. "Anna, do you want to see some fire juggling?"

"Would I?!" Anna lunged forward excitedly. "Let's do it right now! How many of those can you do at once? Do you think I could do it too? I mean, maybe I could start out with regular balls and then work my way up. I would wear gloves, of course. Does fire go through gloves?"

"Not here! Too many books that could catch fire. We'll do it in the ballroom."

Kristoff laughed.

"Because that is much safer."

Elsa was relieved to be out of the conversation and to have something other than her romantic affairs to distract Anna. In fact, Elsa and Natalia didn't have a spare moment to dwell on their personal development until later that night. Everyone had ended up back in the library to play a board game, as the rain finally began to give up past dark. Some light drops still tapped the windows as Kristoff and Anna headed up to bed together. Natalia sat to the right of Elsa on a small loveseat. Elsa had a book in her hands and was reading quietly. Leo was doing the same, but specifically positioned himself in a chair directly across from the pair. This way, he could keep an eye on his sister. Natalia was not amused.

"You know, Leo," Natalia said, "it's getting pretty late. You're probably tired after all of that freeze tag."

"I'm wide awake, actually."

Elsa looked up, some concern evident on her face.

"Is your shoulder alright? I thought it would be fun to take the name of the game literally, but I forgot that you aren't used to the cold either."

"Oh my shoulder is just fine. You didn't do any harm, Elsa." Leo gave her a reassuring look, so she went back to reading. Natalia frowned.

"Leo, I wouldn't mind if you gave me the cold shoulder right now."

"Why would I ever do that, dear sister? I'm enjoying being here with you, reading a good novel, and making sure you don't do anything that you might regret later." With a knowing smirk, the prince returned his eyes to the pages.

Natalia sighed and rolled her eyes at his protectiveness. What made him think she needed a chaperone? She was a grown woman. If she wanted to act on her impulsive desires to cuddle the Queen of Arendelle on a rainy summer night, she was going to do so! But she knew having Leo watching would make Elsa nervous. How could she get him to leave? It was then that she noticed the cover of his book. If he wouldn't leave for her, then she would have to get him out another way. With a sneaky grin she said,

"He's going to frame the man with treason."

Leo slowly looked up.

"What?"

"And another will lie to confirm the false accusations. So the man goes to jail."

Leo began to understand. She was trying to spoil the book for him to get him to leave. It was going to take a little more than that to ruin it for him.

"Natalia, you aren't really going to do this, are you?"

"And the mysterious figure is actually a-,"

"Okay! Fine." He gave in at last. It wasn't often that he found a mystery novel that he actually liked. And he supposed giving the girls just a little unsupervised time alone wouldn't be too horrible. Elsa had casually tried to explain that the earlier mishap was by complete accident. Elsa was trustworthy enough. "I am going up to bed. Good night to the both of you."

He glanced back several times over his shoulder before finally leaving the two to themselves.

Elsa turned another page. She was relieved to be free of Leo's eyes.

"So, I take it you like to read a lot?" she asked. Natalia replied in the affirmative.

"Ever since I was a little kid."

"I'm the same way. I still have a lot of my old fairy tale books in my room. I always…admired the princesses."

Natalia couldn't help but smile.

"So did I. Though, I always wanted to be a knight."

Elsa slowly closed her book.

"Really? That's interesting."

"It's a little silly," Natalia admitted. Elsa placed the book on a table and looked at the girl beside her, wanting more of an explanation. "Well, you see, knights always had to go up against fire breathing dragons. And I thought if I were a knight, dragons would be no problem for me. I could burn them right back."

"That's adorable." Elsa scooted a bit closer to the princess. "And very heroic of you."

Natalia ventured to put her arm around the beautiful woman beside her. Elsa welcomed the touch and leaned into her friend comfortably.

"Did you dream about rescuing a princess?"

"Sometimes," she confessed. "But only the very beautiful ones with bright blue eyes and perfect smiles."

"Oh any princess like that would be happy to be rescued by such an amazing knight. I always dreamt about being saved by a princess."

"Maybe there's hope for that yet."

"I don't know. Maybe a fire-breathing dragon would suit me better."

Elsa looked up. Natalia looked down. As soon as their eyes met, they let a couple of giggles escape their mouths and they felt themselves cuddle closer. As much as Elsa wanted to stay that way, she knew she was growing tired very fast. She started to doze off, which Natalia found very endearing. Always preferring to be proper, however, Elsa apologized and stood up not much later.

"We should get to bed before the sun rises."

"You're right," Natalia agreed, standing as well. She shared a brief hug with the queen before they both stood in front of one another.

"I want to…return a small favor." Elsa took Natalia's hand in her own. Bowing her head some, she planted a kiss on the warm, tan skin just beneath the wrist. Impulsively, Natalia reacted in the moment and placed her own favor against Elsa's cheek. Turning a light shade of crimson, Elsa bit her lip.

"Thank you."

"Thank you too, Elsa. You can return your favors any time. I'm just as happy to receive them as I am to give them."

She made the queen laugh once more.

"I will keep that in mind for the future."

They exchanged good nights. Natalia watched Elsa leave and felt satisfied. As Elsa headed to her room, a hundred thoughts swam through her mind. But none of them mattered as her hand touched the warm mark on the side of her face. She smiled because she knew one thing for certain: she was not alone.