Beware the Frozen Heart

Prompt: Something Amelia/Zelgadis; only an act of true love can thaw a Frozen Heart?

Amelia wasn't quite sure how they'd ended up in this situation, but "between a rock and a hard place" didn't even begin to cover it.

She had gone with Zelgadis in search for his cure, of course, because that's what friends do. And if she were being truly honest with herself, she would do a whole lot more for him if he would only ask.

The problem was the spell that had her encased in a quickly growing block of ice, that would surely cut off her breathing soon.

"Um, Zelgadis," she said, trying to keep her voice even, "it's almost up to my neck now."

"I can see that, Amelia!" he snapped while flipping through various tomes and loose scrolls that seemed to be scattered all over the cave that they'd discovered.

Amelia rolled her eyes. She knew he was frightened, and Zelgadis didn't like to be frightened or not in control. So even though she was the one whose arms were plastered to her sides and whose body was becoming one big snow cone, she was the one who had to retain a modicum of patience in the situation.

As if in answer to her own thoughts, Zelgadis let out a frustrated scream and threw a rather large book of spells across the cave, letting it embed itself into the rock wall. It was easy to forget how strong he really was, especially when he was angry.

"Zelgadis, please calm down," Amelia pleaded. "If you destroy every book in the cave, we'll never find the answer…right?"

Zelgadis looked up at her, then, and she could see that his eyes were red-rimmed. He ran both hands through his wiry hair, making it stick up in every direction.

The ice block slowly crept up to Amelia's chin. Now she couldn't even move her head.

"I'm so sorry, Amelia," Zelgadis said as he finally pulled himself to his feet and faced her. "There's so much to go through here, and not enough time. I wish I could be strong, like you, but I wasn't even strong enough to tell you no when you asked to come with me."

Amelia's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Why would you have told me no?" she managed to mumble, with difficulty.

"To keep you safe!" Zelgadis yelled, smashing a fist into one of the rock walls that surrounded them. "To keep you from a fate like this! But I was weak! I wanted you around…I wanted your company, and your smile, and your laugh. I wanted you because…"

He trailed off, and Amelia's eyes widened.

"Because what, Zelgadis?" she managed to get out before the ice covered her bottom lip.

"Because I love you!" he finally admitted, crossing his arms in front of himself as if she would rebuke him.

Amelia couldn't properly smile, but as the ice crept up to cover her entire mouth, her eyes smiled for her.

Zelgadis walked over and placed his hands in her hair, so gently that it was if he thought she might break.

"I'm so sorry, Amelia," he said. Amelia closed her eyes to keep from crying, so Zelgadis gave her a gentle kiss on both eyelids.

Suddenly, the ice began to recede, freeing her mouth and then slowly melting from the rest of her body.

"Zelgadis?" she said, confused, as soon as her mouth was free.

"We did it!" he exclaimed. "I don't know how, but…" he cut himself off and pulled her into his arms as the rest of the ice melted. Amelia leaned up and gave him a proper kiss, full of passion and love.

Zelgadis dropped to the ground, legs crossed, with a cold but alive Amelia in his lap.

With a giggle, Amelia said, "maybe it was simply the world's oldest magic."

"Which would be…?" Zelgadis questioned, holding on to her for dear life.

"True Love's Kiss, of course!" Amelia said with a grin.

Zelgadis simply smiled and kissed her again.